BOO!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Pumpkin Spider

Went into M^cDonalds last night. One "blond" Hawai'ian girl working the cash registar. Before the man in front of me had even collected his food, she was demanding my order.

"One Double Deluxe Burger, please."

"What?"

"What part of what I said didn't you understand?"

"All of it."

"Okay. ONE DOUBLE DELUXE BURGER, PLEASE."

I projected in my best "announcers" voice.

She slams her fist against the sales terminal. Shouts,

"BITCH!!"

at me and storms away.

The assistant manager stops her and tells her to go in the back. The AM then starts to take my order.

"I really don't appreciate being treated in this manner. I would like to speak to the Manager on duty, please. I am pretty positive that the owner of this store and your corporate headquarters would find this offensive also."

She doesn't say a word. Just walks into the back. In a few moments a lady, must be the manager since the uniform is different, approaches and takes my food order. I also explain, while holding my cash in plain sight, that I felt my burger should be "comped" for the insulting way I was treated. The manager rings up my order and doesn't ask for any money. Just as she is putting it into a sack, the first server comes storming from behind the counter, kicking things out of her way. The AM tried to restrain her approach but was shoved out of the way. I stood calming by waiting for what I presumed was going to be a physical attack. All she did was rush past and holler,

"FUCKING HAULI!"

The manager placed my order on the counter. I told her,

"I also do not appreciate being called racist, perjorative names. I will be reporting this store to corporate headquarters and the Hawai'ian Civil Rights Commission."

If any person of any other race would have been treated this way, it would make the news. But a white person in Hawai'i is expected to ignore these racist epitaphs. I don't ignore them. When you complain, you are given a "white-wash" that Hauli means "foreigner", which is not true. The ancient meaning of the word is "a person without breath", which translates as "a person without a soul".

Less than 1% of the population is more than 50% Hawai'ian blood. About 3% are Hawai'ian mix. Yet everyone is expected to "kow-tow" to their almost defunct culture. That fact is that their last Sovereign abdicated her throne and the Republic of Hawai'i was created. That was over 110 years ago. Of all the ethnic and cultural groups in Hawai'i, and none are a majority, the Hawai'ians are the ones with the least amount of "Aloha" spirit.

I have grown up being called a "half-breed" because of my Cherokee and Irish mix. Called "white trash" because I was a military brat. We won't even go into the names I heard as a cop. I am sick and tired of it.

***

It was the second worst night I've had driving a cab these past 6 years. So slow that Tina left at 9p, TMR left at midnight and Kimo departed at 1a. "Crazy" Brian stayed on only because he had the phone duty until 2a and me because I still had the dog-watch to go. Didn't even put $30 on the meter. To add insult to injury, the owner screwed up and scheduled both of the early drivers off so the could work Halloween. Leaving me with no relief. Finally somebody I have never really met before, showed up and logged in at 5a. I handed him the phone and radio and he says,

"I am not a dispatcher."

"You are today, dude."

I tossed everything in his lap and left. I have to get up early, since the owner changed his mind about me taking ONE-NINE home today and I have to pick up my "special" to Lahaina at 5p. So now I must arise 30 minutes earlier than I planned. I am NOT a happy camper this morning. And what I have written here is just the tip of the iceberg of "fuck ups" that occurred all shift. Hell, I am the ONLY driver that prearranged a run over and back tonight.

4 fares / 37 miles / 2nd quarter below $100 bracket

***

We had a shark attack yesterday. We have had more shark attacks this past year that in all my 14 years on Mau'i put together. Of course, the term "Shark Attack" has negative connotations so the local paper calls them "Shark Strikes". Don't want to upset the tourists and scare away business now, do we?

Of course, having DHS snafus, that leave tourists stranded on cruise ships, doesn't leave a positive lasting impression either, does it?

Mau'i has been named the BEST ISLAND IN THE WORLD by a Conde Nast annual readers poll for the 11th straight year.

***

Well, its off to bed for a few hours sleep. Up earlier than normal for my trip to Lahaina and all its adventures. I've mentioned before that this is another thing that Hawai'ians want to abolish, since it is not part of their culture and they won't accept other cultures traditions. They are rather myopic in their views.

I'll try and get some interesting pics of the costumes.

Mahalo

Aloha

---

THE PICTURE GALLERY

Mau'i

***

"Let's all be careful out there!"