--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Last September 16th, I was walking in…" description: "\"Last September 16th, I was walking in downtown Seattle when this pick-up truck pulls up in front of me. Guy leans out the window and yells, \"Go back to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff2/sherman-alexie-444_country_last-september-16th-i-was-walking-in-dow_1157718.png" --- # Last September 16th, I was walking in downtown Seattle… ![“Last September 16th, I was walking in downtown Seattle when this pick-up truck pulls up in front of me. Guy leans out the window and yells, "Go back to your own country," and I was laughing so hard because it wasn't so much a hate crime as a crime of irony.” quote by Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff2/sherman-alexie-444_country_last-september-16th-i-was-walking-in-dow_1157718.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff2/sherman-alexie-444_country_last-september-16th-i-was-walking-in-dow_1157718.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff2/sherman-alexie-444_country_last-september-16th-i-was-walking-in-dow_1157718.png) > “Last September 16th, I was walking in downtown Seattle when this pick-up truck pulls up in front of me. Guy leans out the window and yells, "Go back to your own country," and I was laughing so hard because it wasn't so much a hate crime as a crime of irony.” [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A hostile remark is turned into humor, highlighting absurdity of xenophobia. **In simple terms:** Hate turned into a joke. Key Takeaway Find humor to defuse big. Themes irony humor xenophobia social commentary Mood ironic reflective Type anecdotal social commentary When to use this quote - public spaces - street encounters - online discourse - personal reflection Key Concepts cultural clash microaggression identity resilience Questions to Reflect On - How can humor address hate? - When does humor trivialize serious issues? A Different Perspective Humor may not change underlying prejudice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Country Laughing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country-laughing-3301662/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Downtown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/downtown/) [Fronts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fronts/) [Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guy/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Hate crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate-crime/) [Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Laughing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughing/) [Laughing so hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughing-so-hard/) [Pick Truck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pick-truck-1647773/) [Picks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/picks/) [Pull ups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pull-ups/) [Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seattle/) [September](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/september/) [Truck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truck/) [Walking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking/) [Window](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/window/) [Xenophobia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/xenophobia/) [Yells Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yells-country-3301663/) ## Related quotes > [She's a hot little number in her pick-up truck. Daddy's sweet money done jacked it up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-aldean/she-s-a-hot-little-number-in-her-pick-up-truck-daddy-s-sweet-money/) [Jason Aldean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-aldean/) > [Oh that's what he left? Let his mama pick it up. Might back up on it, VROOM VROOM wit the pick-up truck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/oh-that-s-what-he-left-let-his-mama-pick-it-up-might-back-up-on-it/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [She makes my old pick-up truck feel like a limousine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhett-akins/she-makes-my-old-pick-up-truck-feel-like-a-limousine/) [Rhett Akins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhett-akins/) > [What I like to do is get the family in the pick-up truck... and then we just go for a drive. That's it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/what-i-like-to-do-is-get-the-family-in-the-pick-up-truck-and-then-we/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [When I left Baltimore I put everything I owned in my dad's pick-up truck and drove cross-country to make it as a rockstar in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-schock/when-i-left-baltimore-i-put-everything-i-owned-in-my-dad-s-pick-up/) [Gina Schock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-schock/) > [Discrimination, hate crime and worse are widespread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-mordaunt/discrimination-hate-crime-and-worse-are-widespread/) [Penny Mordaunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-mordaunt/) > [“Human and hate cannot coexist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/human-and-hate-cannot-coexist/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“The doctrine that only whites can be racist is, in fact, itself an instigation to hate crimes. It is a doctrine that has already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-horowitz/the-doctrine-that-only-whites-can-be-racist-is-in-fact-itself-an/) [David Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-horowitz/) > [“It has happened that a group of autistics, who were considered radical by many, attempted to petition the United Nations to recognize autistics as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-d-taylor/it-has-happened-that-a-group-of-autistics-who-were-considered-radical/) [Thomas D. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-d-taylor/) > [Hate crime and hate speech must not be tolerated. 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We question humility more than we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/civil-sanity-sonnet-1631-you-know-what-the-problem-is-we-question/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [If you hit minorities they're gonna blame conservatives, Second Amendment, guns, and the terrorists won't get their due credit. So from now on acts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/if-you-hit-minorities-they-re-gonna-blame-conservatives-second/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [People are just afraid of things too much … Sure, evil exists, extremism exists. Somebody could commit a hate crime and hurt me. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-ocean/people-are-just-afraid-of-things-too-much-sure-evil-exists-extremism/) [Frank Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-ocean/) ## More by Sherman Alexie > [“He says the earth is an oval marble that nobody can win. He says the sky is not blue and the grass is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/he-says-the-earth-is-an-oval-marble-that-nobody-can-win-he-says-the/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“Now, in the old days, Indians used to be forgiving of any kind of eccentricity. In fact, weird people were often celebrated. Epileptics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/now-in-the-old-days-indians-used-to-be-forgiving-of-any-kind-of/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [Since Jesus was human then he most assuredly farted and burped. And if God did create us in God's image then God must fart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/since-jesus-was-human-then-he-most-assuredly-farted-and-burped-and-if/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“A century ago she might have been beautiful, her face reflected in the river instead of a mirror. But all the years have changed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/a-century-ago-she-might-have-been-beautiful-her-face-reflected-in-the/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“In all those stories, I could fly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/in-all-those-stories-i-could-fly/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [I don't think there's a whole lot of class literature at all. I think most of that has become racially based, and people don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-whole-lot-of-class-literature-at-all-i-think/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [She wanted to be buried in a coffin filled with used paperbacks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/she-wanted-to-be-buried-in-a-coffin-filled-with-used-paperbacks/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“Is there really a difference between that killing and this killing? Does God approve of some killing and not other killing? If I kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/is-there-really-a-difference-between-that-killing-and-this-killing/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“Son, things have never been like how you think they used to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/son-things-have-never-been-like-how-you-think-they-used-to-be/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [My parents banned nothing, though the Christian fundamentalists in my tribe held book-and-record burnings every now and again. 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