What a Difference an Alien Makes
It was an otherwise ordinary day when the Aliens landed on Earth. God’s Muslim soldiers murdered unarmed civilians, Christians blackmailed souls, businessmen sold weapons and governments cornered resources while politicians denied everything as Humankind collectively looked up to see strange beings dangling from little umbrellas. No ships. Just Aliens descending in brightly colored spandex suits. They had coarse black hair that their men wore closely cropped and tightly curled and that on their women hung straight down past the shoulders in braided mop-like strands. If they were men and women. It turned out each had both sex organs and employed them simultaneously during unpredictable but noisy mating seizures. They had slanted eyes, large noses and pale white skin. They were three feet tall and fat. It was later learned that each suffered some physical or mental handicap. They had been genetically altered to represent Earthlings.
By chance, Bob Whatt became the first man on the street to be interviewed about the Aliens. There was nothing special about Bob. Had he strangled the person in front of him while standing in line at Disneyland, witnesses would describe him as maybe white, of normal weight, not over six feet tall with dark hair. His scent would not stand out in a crowded elevator. A very average looking man even when seen up close, Bob was selected to represent the average white man from a crowd of ordinary people watching TVs through Davison’s Department Store window on Peachtree Street. “Tell us your reaction to this historic event, sir.”
“Surprise of course. Shock. Then suspicion.”
Bob’s reaction surprised and shocked Piper Wellington, interviewer for the European news website, Socialism Redux. She arched into the offended pose of a news personality confronting social injustice. “How can you be suspicious? Don’t they seem a lot like us?”
“Exactly my point.”
Before the astounded Piper could override such a negative view of people and near-people, an elderly black couple stepped from the crowd. Both seemed frail and overdressed for the warm spring day. The man in a topcoat looked like a grandfather too old to ever be really warm again and the woman wore a plain black dress with high collar and long sleeves. They smiled at Piper. She smiled back. “Ignore him,” the man told her. “Bob’s too white to understand what’s really happening here.”
“He’s a good boy,” the woman assured her. “Give him some time.”
“Hi Mom.”
Piper stared at Bob. “Mom?”
“I was a surprise.”
“Your face is Western European.” Her eyes twinkled.
“They love me anyway.”
Piper thumbed at the cameraman behind her to continue the interview but Bob ignored her. “I do understand, Dad,” he answered the old gentleman. “The presence of an Alien species defines all humans as one, right?”
Realization came over Piper’s face as if she suddenly sensed the real story here. Signaling the cameraman again, she turned to the old man. “Tell me, sir, what was your first reaction when you heard the news?”
“Folks are gonna stop looking at me like I’m black.”
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