Today, I met a .......

I had an interesting experience today at work. I met a bigot. I haven't met one for quite a while and thought that maybe, at last they were dying out. Unfortunately, I was proved wrong, as this one is only 21, so apparently they are still breeding in some dark, dreary place, somewhere.
I was having an interesting conversation with a new colleague at work about films in general and we got onto the subject of Heath Ledger, via Batman, and how he had taken on the rol eof the Joker and that this had contributed to his mindset at the time of his death.
This misguided, (is that too kind a word to use for this kid, misguided?) and overly verbose youth chipped into the conversation that it was Brokeback Mountain that had done him in. "All those questions about a gay film film! It's a batty-boy film!"
I let that comment pass, despite the fact that I was almost as annoyed about him slurring the memory of Heath, as I was about his use of the term "batty-boy!" One-off comments I usually let pass, even if the usage of them is clearly offensive. He then unfortunately elaborated on his opinions. He told of how he had watched the film with his girlfriend and then when they began kissing "and stuff" he felt sick and couldn't watch. He didn't want to watch a film about batty boys. I tried to explain that that wasn't what the film was really about it was a love story and a story about how society can treat people wrongly for no real reason.
Then he added, "I don't mind most fings, bruv, but gays and lesbians are just wrong. They're just wrong!"
At this point I thought that I would stop him from making the hole he was digging any deeper. I said, "I'm sorry? Are you saying that I am "wrong" ?"
The poor little thing had no idea what I was talking about.
"What?"
I explained.
"I am gay! Are you saying that therefore I am wrong?" He was gobsmacked.
"You're gay?"
"Yes!"
He had nothing to say for a while, and the nice conversation that I had been involved in had been killed stone dead, so we all sat there in silence.
I sat there in my chair fuming at the ignorance of this child, but I remained leaning back with my hands behind my head, trying to control my breathing and waiting until I felt more passive to continue the conversation sensibly. When I get angry I am no use in an arguement at all as my mind does not seem to control my mouth and I end up talking rubbish. So I waited, and all the while I could see my heart pounding in my chest and hear my ragged breathing as I struggled to control my broiling rage.
After about five minutes he got up and left the room, I think to phone his girlfriend. As he left, my colleague and I just looked at each other in disbelief that he had come out with such crap.
He came back into the control room about ten minutes later and interupted our resumed conversation to say, "I'm sorry if I upset you!"
I cut him off, "Don't apologise! Just don't say it!"
I was going to continue but instead I went back to the conversation he had rudely interupted, and ignored him.
In that one conversation he had confirmed what I thought about him, that he was an ignorant, ill-informed yet self-important little boy in a young man's body and I had lost all patience with him.

About half an hour later, while I was on reception duty I received a call from the control room informing me that he had left site. Initially I thought he had either quit, or been suspended because of the incident, which would have been strange as there was no manager to suspend him in today. But, he had apparently told the supervisor that his girlfriend had been taken to hospital urgently and he had to go to be with her. Coincidentally, the England V Switzerland football match is on the television tonight and starts at 20:00, so we think that may have been the reason why he wanted to leave early, to get home changed and out to the pub to watch it. We all very much doubt that his reason was a true one, and hope that he doesn't regret crying wolf about such things if that is true.

I became more and more determined as the remainder of the shift went on that I do not want to work alone with the guy, which I am due to do on Friday night. So I will have to have a word with my manager tomorrow, if he is in. I will see what he says tomorrow and then decide what to do from that point.