"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me" Martin Niemoller

For the past 2 years, after I would attend Sunday mass daily with a devoted friend of mine, we would go to this Christian bakery across the street. And while it was a great bakery, I did not go anymore, could not, because, well, they thought I was an immigrant.

I can remember the bakery like it was yesterday, a white building with blue windows, and gray double doors (they had this sort of fence look to them). However what I found weird about it was that right before you stepped into the bakery, right as you walk in past the doors, there was a large and thick white line of paint, which just stretched all the way to the walls on the side, horizontally. Whenever I crossed it, it always gave me a border-feeling.

The first incident in the bakery happened about 1 year ago when my friend and I were eating pastries and discussing school on Sunday. While I was engulfing the newly advertised honey-filled donut with a honey icing on top (Proverbs 25:27 ESV) and my friend was eating the same, a woman came in wearing a nice skin tone hijab and began to walk across the thick line. However, the owner who served in the shop saw her, and yelled: "stop!". "Which God do you serve?" he then asked her; she stopped in her tracks and remained behind the thick white line. At this point, the entire bakery went into silence and waited eagerly for her answer. "I don't understand your question, sir," she said and attempted to cross the white line again, but the owner again told her to stop again. "I am Muslim" she stated, to then he asked, "So, you don't worship God the Almighty?". "I do," she said, "but we call him Allah"; the owner then shouted "Get out of my store! Leave!" and in shock, she did, and went to a breakfast house next door, whose logo had a red and white background, with a maple leaf.

"Sorry everyone," he said, "The 1st commandment says 'I am the Lord thy God, thou shall not worship other gods before me. And because she didn't follow that rule, I had to make her leave. She wouldn't fit into our society". Some people in the bakery became very upset by this, yelled at the owner wearing a red, white and blue hat, and left. The rest of us just sat there in shock but also thinking in our minds "Well, it wasn't us", and then I continued to eat my pastry, and soon after, we left.

The second incident happened about 4 months after that from what I know of. The bakery's theme of the month was fish, and so all of the pastries were in fish shapes. I was eating a shrimp-shaped cronut, and my friend was eating a lobster-shaped one (Lev. 11: 9-12). When we were eating again around the same time, we saw these two men holding hands and wearing rainbow bands walked through the double doors, and attempt to cross the white line. The owner seeing this again, yelled " Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is an abomination. What do you think you are doing walking in here, bringing that sin into a good Christian business.". "We just wanted to order a cake" one said angrily, "but I guess that goes against your morals, right?" the other said. "Well on that, you are correct. Now get out of here, and never come back again!" he yelled. The couple then left the bakery and walked to a next-door restaurant that had green, white, and red colors on it, with eagle symbol. They were welcomed in another language and seated quickly. Because of this as well, some people in the bakery did not approve and walked out of the bakery. However, the majority of people in the bakery continued to eat their food as if nothing had happened. All that they could think about was "I'm glad that wasn't me".

Then I found that more of these incidents kept on happening to many people; to atheists, Jewish people, divorcees, until it all finally trickled down to one last category. It finally got down to the point where my caramel skin often stuck out in the crowd that was close to ivory.

The last time I stepped into that bakery was 1 week ago because that was when I was singled out. As I was about to walk past the white line, I was stopped by the owner. "Are you from here?" he asked loudly across the store. "Yes, I'm from Maricopa, Arizona", I replied. "Well do you have any passport on you" he then said as he walked towards the front of the store. At this point, my friend was already eating her pastry and watching me, shocked at what she was seeing. "No, why would I carry my passport?" I then stated. "Because then I can't tell if you're legal or not," he remarked. Some people in the bakery laughed at this, and my friend cringed. "Hey, why didn't you ask my friend for her passport?".

"Because she seems like a decent American gal to me" he answered, staring at my skin while he said this. "And why don't I seem like a nice American boy to you? What about me gives it away" I then questioned sarcastically. "Don't get snarky with me boy!". "I'm just trying to make sure that no illegal comes into bakery" he yelled. "Well, what's wrong with being an 'illegal'?" I asked. "Because they didn't follow the law in coming here, and we as Christians need to follow the Bible, and the Bible talks all about obeying the law" he claimed. "Are you trying to use the Holy Book itself to justify your hate for illegals right now, or are you just trying to use it to justify your own outdated racism, like Loving v. Virginia? Because honestly, what I've seen in the past year has just been your fear to accept anyone who is different, and treat them as a beloved neighbor, like a good Christian would" I answered.

"Get out of my store!!!" I heard him say as I walked out. My friend followed me as well, and still being hungry, we walked to the maple leaf restaurant next door and were welcomed with open arms. And as we were seated, we saw everyone that was kicked out of the bakery, eating peacefully and having conversations while smiling; for once I felt peace and comfort. A waiter greeted us with a smile and showed us to a nice booth by the window, and after our orders, went to the kitchen.

I then turned to my friend and lastly said: "Toto, I don't think we're in the US anymore". She smiled, but we both knew it wasn't funny.