Deep Shine's Everyday Heroes

A little story for you from my favourite inside source. Traveling on a bus the other day Deep Shine was peeved to find he was traveling with one of the loud obnoxious drunks with which Transport For London have replaced conductors. Russum russum, thought he, oh for one peaceful journey. A group of Muslim women in hijabs then got on the bus, to which the drunk responded by continually shouting "I'm part of Al Qaida! I'm part of Al Qaida!" Yes, thought Deep Shine, the alkie part. Was it meant to offend these ladies? If so wouldn't "I'm George Bush!" have been more effective?
With his vision of and way through to the incident partially obscured, and hearing no response from the ladies (as obviously no one wants to talk to a drunk or a member of Al Qaida) Deep Shine was wondering whether the ladies were attempting to ignore the guy, or if they were in fact asking the guy to shut up and he was refusing. Should he stay put or go and batter the guy? Then a dwarf got on the bus. Unlike all the taller people up near the incident, the dwarf was having none of the alkie's offensive mouth, and promptly told the drunk in no uncertain terms that he should shut up and why, thus proving himself the biggest person on the bus.
The drunk, now bored of hollering at the ladies, started on the dwarf. Deep Shine began internally debating whether wading in at this point would be taken amiss by the only person on the bus who'd so far been bothered to call the man to task, when a fairly substantial builder rather closer to the action stepped in and told the drunk to shut it.
"Wah blether blether ya snughing brik manaya!" or something equally clever, said the drunk. "Saynar whassit likeses wotyer doobarteet?"
"This is me," said the builder, indicating his several dwarfsworth of bulk, "telling you to shut up."
The drunk shut up.
So this is post-terrorism London. On a whole busfull of people the only one not too afraid or too "Oh sod it, what's the point?" to tell a drunk that it is unacceptable to harass ladies or make poor taste remarks about terrorists on a bus, was a dwarf. The only person who would stand up for the dwarf, when he previously had not stood up for the ladies, was the builder.
What do we learn from this? I suggest that it shows the only people who know that all persecution or harassment of a minority is a serious issue are other minorities, and that a proportion of the population see a difference between the kind of minority that were "born that way", like the dwarf, and the kind of minority perceived to have some choice in the matter.
I've heard shades of it before on the gay debate, that people should be aware that people have prejudices, and if they "choose" to live a gay lifestyle, they can like it or lump it. It was bollocks then, and it's bollocks now. I give fair warning that if I just once hear from anyone that going around "obviously displaying" that you're a Muslim is "asking for it" it will be very very much the worse for them. Every part of what makes us who we are deserves the same respect, because we don't choose to love who we love, believe what we believe, or feel how we feel, we just do, and those ladies could no more switch off believing in Allah than the dwarf could grow two foot taller. Think you're immune? Grow a spine, people, there won't always be a dwarf about when you need one.

"First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me."

Pastor Martin Niemoller