Foreigners

The two men sat down at a table in the market place outside a fashionable bar. They both had pints of expensive designer lager.

People looked at them with suspicion. The men were clearly foreign – they had darker skin than the inhabitants of the northern town. It was the kind of town where foreigners were treated with the same contempt as people from the next town that was only a five-minute drive away. They hated everyone equally.

Bloody foreigners!

The darker skin of the two gentlemen and the fact that they were speaking an unfamiliar language unnerved those sitting nearby. In truth, English spoken with an accent that sounded different than that which was spoken in the town was enough to outrage most of them.

Terrorists!

One of the men pulled a small, clear plastic bag from inside his rucksack. He opened it and smelled the contents. He smiled and passed the bag to his friend. He smiled too. They spoke quickly in their native tongue as the first man quickly slid the bag back into his rucksack.

Drug dealers!

Some people saw the whole thing and were appalled. Mobile phones were pulled from pockets and phone calls were made discretely.

Within five minutes, two police vans had pulled up, one at either side of the market place. Officers in full riot gear approached the two foreign men.

“GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!” one yelled. He was pointing a gun at them.

The two men didn’t notice what was going on at first and continued their chatting and drinking. They soon realised and looked at the policemen open-mouthed.

“What’s going on?” one of them asked. The heavily-accented English causing those nearby to roll their eyes and think xenophobic thoughts.

Lock them up! Send them back!

“ON THE GROUND!”

The two men decided not to ask any more questions and quickly threw themselves on to the cobbles.

An officer went straight for the rucksack. He pulled out the plastic bag which had been seen a few minutes earlier. He opened it and sniffed the contents. He shook his head at his armed colleague.

The gun was lowered.

“We’re sorry to have bothered you, gents,” he said and the police disappeared back to their vans.

If people hadn’t been so quick to judge, they might have realised that the two men were Spanish. And if they’d been observant at all, they would have realised that the men were excited because they’d scored a bag of fantastic Iberian ham from the new delicatessen next to the chemist’s.