first to sean- i myself,from a working class (both immigrant parents who dropped out of school and worked in factories) got a masters degree and moved up the socio-economic scale but my parents, my grandparents, their brothers and sisters ,their spouses and offspring and friends are all welcome to sit on the same platform and eat the same food and use the same bathrooms as i. this extends to all who are not of my eastern european background whethethey be italian, jewish,asian and may i dare say ethiopian. this is replicated a million times in the u.s. which makes me grateful that i live here and not ethiopia.
to kebede- if sean were in the u.s. and saw this, he would have busted their asses. what i expect him to do is not glorify it and pretend it is normal and an honor in his article. he didn't have to lecture them he just wouldn't write about it the way he does. his response to my criticism tells me he has a anti western chip on his shoulder and a sympathy for the third world that dismisses their prejudices as insignificant. which again disqualifies him from being a good travel writer.

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