Sometimes being the bigger person just doesn’t make sense. Turning the other cheek might be neat and pious, but it has its limitations as a philosophy.

Infamous comedienne Margaret Cho, for example, makes the perfect case for confrontation in her latest concert DVD, Revolution. She referred to an incident in which she was stopped at a traffic light, and the car in front of her sported a bumper sticker that was, at best, politically incorrect.

It read, “This car was made with tools, not chopsticks.” How classy.

Cho, clearly offended by this statement, pulled up next to the lady driving the car and proceeded to scream violently at her. According to Cho, it felt great.

This driver obviously had a problem with foreign-made automobiles, but I don’t think this was her only motive; the driver also was a bigot. I don’t need to explain how offensive it is to use chopsticks to make a racist generalization.

Should this woman just go on thinking it’s OK to be racist all her life? This is not acceptable, and I don’t mean “roll your eyes at her ignorance and move on” unacceptable. I’m saying there comes a time when you have to get in people’s faces and make sure they know exactly how you feel when they say or do something hateful.

I don’t know where the lady in the car picked up her shockingly mean-

spirited outlook on other cultures, but I do know how hurt I would be if I were an Asian who happened to see a bumper sticker like this.

I would be more than upset; I would be irate. And as much as my friends and family might tell me to “be the bigger person,” I really shouldn’t have to. Hearing that “some people are just taught to be hateful” would piss me off even more. There is no excuse for hurting other people, period.

It’s your job to be the bigger person when you hear that someone doesn’t like your new haircut. You obviously don’t need to get in his or her face to “set the record straight.” But when people blatantly cut you down on account of your race – something you never could control in the first place – it’s your right, and arguably your duty, to confront them about it.

Margaret Cho did just that. She didn’t “take the high road” – she shouted angrily at this woman. According to Cho, the lady was so stunned that she drove off in a panic, running a red light in the process.

I can imagine the fear this woman had. She might have thought she was making a valid point by displaying her bumper sticker, but after looking into the eyes of an angry Asian woman and hearing her scream out in response to the discriminatory slogan, I’m almost positive she felt embarrassed and regretful. Why else did she hit the gas? I don’t think it was a need for speed.

Furthermore, I don’t feel as if I’m being too optimistic. I truly believe most bigotry is shallow and baseless. I think this woman felt like an idiot when she saw the negative effect her public display of racism had on a human being. After this incident, she probably thought twice about keeping the sticker on her car. She might have learned tolerance through shame, but it’s tolerance nonetheless.

When I was younger, there were times when I wanted to confront someone for intentionally hurting my feelings. However, my mother always would say, “Don’t ever wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”

I have a different suggestion. Make sure you let that pig know just how disgusted you are with the muck that surrounds him, and he might just learn through embarrassment to clean up his act.

Jon Monteith is a sophomore in LAS. His column runs Tuesdays. He can be reached at [email protected].