My last post on the mosque (maybe)

From the Metropolitan Diary column of the NY Times:

Dear Diary:

I was in a taxi, late for a doctor’s appointment, when the driver turned around and, with a serious gaze, asked if I was American.

After I told him I was, he asked if I was from New York. Again I replied in the affirmative.

“So tell me,” he asked, “what do you think of the mosque being built downtown?”

Eager to reveal that some New Yorkers believe in religious freedom and civil rights, I exclaimed, “Well, you know, it’s not just a mosque, it’s a whole community center as well, and I think it’s fine for them to build wherever they want.”

I waited for his approval, but he shook his head and said, “Well, I am a Muslim, and I think it is a very, very bad idea!”

Expecting a philosophical explanation, I asked him why.

Clearly agitated, he explained, as though it were obvious: “Because of the parking situation downtown! You can’t find parking anywhere near there!”

Stephanie Lazar

That taxi driver is a true New Yorker.