OK So I am a white woman. And it pisses me off to no end when I read FB posts or some emails

[BlueMTexpat]

4. The woman you are talking

about sounds not only racist but desperately unhappy and cruel in many other ways. It is an all too common combination, I'm afraid. Her mind is closed to any beliefs but her own. What she doesn't realize is that her character is her own punishment. Unfortunately, she poisons the environment of everyone around her and the results can be toxic, like secondhand cigarette smoke or asbestos fumes.

I try to avoid people like her as I would avoid the plague because they literally can be fatal to one's well-being. I give my opinion and then remove myself when and where I can. Life is just too short. There are so many people in the world who are wonderful and inspiring. They are the ones I seek to be around.

But I am fortunate to have choices. Some do not. If you do not have the choice of removing yourself, the only thing that you can do is to manage your own behavior around the poisonous one, living your own life as you like and allowing your own humanity to shine through. While that is much easier said than done, yours is the only behavior that you can control.