"I'm not an animal"

I’ve been wanting to make a downloadable commentary track for the movie Kiss Me Deadly (A sadly ignored masterwork of 1950s film noir). The movie has all the hallmarks of 50s America with some dire warnings about atomic energy, and American jingoism. I was at the Richardson Library waiting in line to get a card when I realized the lady at the front of the line was upset.

“Don’t just shuffle my papers and shove them back in my face. I demand respect. I am not an animal. Where is your manager?”

All I could tell is that the woman was of middle eastern descent, maybe she was Muslim. She had probably moved recently since she still had accented American. The library clerk was a frumpy, thirty something white woman. If getting a simple library card can escalate so easily, I wonder about our hopes for a peaceful future.