A MUSLIM IN OUR MIDST.
I live in Torbay. It is an exceedingly beautiful place, but rather provincial in outlook, conservatively minded and staid, with little desire for change. After a lifetime of travel and urban living, coming to Torbay is in someways like travelling back 50 years in time, which has its good points and bad. The population is almost entirely white, with few immigrant or coloured faces, although this is slowly beginning to change.
Several years ago, a young man came to Torbay, and set up shop as a barber. His name is Osama no less, an Arab man from the middle east. He worked hard and did OK, but when 9/11 happened, he wondered if that was the end of his business. He feared a local backlash, that he would lose business because he was a Muslim.
I tried to reassure Sammy (his local nickname), saying that English people were more tolerant, and would treat him as a person rather than an enemy alien. I was proved right, and his business continued to flourish.
A week after the London bombings, I went for a haircut, and asked how he was getting on. He said that he was very happy, as so many local people had made a point of coming to see him and put his mind at rest. He is a fully accepted and welcome part of the community, which I find very satisfying.
