Eating in a Burka

I'm going to get myself into trouble one of these days because I always have a tremendous urge to go and talk to women I see wearing a burka.  I'm not angry with the women but very, very angry with the males in their families who have brainwashed these poor women.

Anyway, yesterday I was sitting in the mall food court having lunch with my sister when a mid eastern family came to sit at a table near us.  The man was dressed casually in American clothing as were his 3 young children.  On the other hand, the lady I assumed was his wife was dressed head to toe in black robes.  Her face was uncovered, though.  With them was what looked to me to be a young woman who peered through nothing but the eye slits of her burka.  This drives me crazy!  It's when I want to go over and tell her that she's in Canada now and has the freedom to come out from hiding.  I know it's not my business but I still have an almost undeniable impulse to "help" her.  I fight it because I feel it would serve no purpose and only make me look like an idiot.  I believe the father will have a tougher time convincing his younger daughters to cover up like this as they grow up in this country.

Having not been able to help but notice this strange sight amid the crowded food court where the burka lady was the only one in disguise, I have better manners than to keep on staring but something happened that I've never seen before.

We don't see too many women in burkas in this city so I've never had the chance to watch someone eat while wearing one.  The shithead daddy (sorry, but that's what I think of these men) brought a big pizza to the table and everyone dug in, even burka lady.  I watched in amazement as she lifted her veil just enough to put the pizza up to her mouth, and then lowered it as she chewed on her food.  She repeated this every time she took a bite.  It really was a pitiful sight.

My understanding is that their religion isn't what forces the women to cover up like this so it has to be male conditioning within the family.  In my mind, that man has a lot to be ashamed of and I hope he gets the message that we Canadians look upon him with distaste.

The other thing is the danger of allowing people to walk around in public completely disguised.  A criminal dressed like this would be unrecognisable and they could also be carrying an uzi or any kind of weapon under those robes.  I'm hoping that sometime soon there will be a law against wearing a burka in this country.