Mr Perera gives of an aura of extreme happiness and anyone who would meet him would deem him to be a joyous individual. But, listening to him talk about a very sensitive topic made me realise that he has been through a lot of tough times in life. As ironic as it may seem; he is someone who has overcome his pain and has moved forward in life with the help of humour. He showed us a vulnerable side to himself- of course interlaced with comedy, and shared with us some valuable life experiences.

He spoke to us about how comedy was a source of comfort to him and it had proven to be a very effective weapon when it came to getting out of tricky situations. Mr Perera spoke about his experience back when he was a first year college student in a boxing team. He retold the incident that took place in the south of England- Portland where he went to a bar with his boxing team and coaches. The incident took place at around 1993 and 1994 which was a period of time during which racism was quite common.

Back then Mr Perera was a skinny young man with long hair. As he was trying to get a drink he was being stopped by a group of bulky white men. Mr Perera recalled how they looked at him like he was a “cockroach”. They later on went to say “I am going to kick out your teeth you black bastard.” The men clearly wanted to fight and said “Let’s step outside” so that they wouldn’t be interrupted by the bouncers. Mr Perera figured that he would have only three possible solutions at this point of time; He could let his boxing team come over, punch the man and hope for the best or throw out a cheeky comment and wait for his friends.

He decided to opt for the third option and went ahead and asked “I’m Black?” This caused the men to laugh. Mr Perera decided to use self depreciating humour in order to diffuse the tension in that situation. One of his friends came in and said “Everything alright?” His entire boxing team created a ring around them- not forgetting the fact that many of them were muscular and bald with lots of tattoos and piercings.

Mr Perera explained that humour is a wonderful way to create a positive environment. He explained that as much as this entire situation is one that he can laugh at now it could have taken quite a dangerous turn. He confessed that even though on the outside he seemed quite confident and brave he was actually very scared. He explained how this incident did affect him- “It hurts, It genuinely hurts.”

It was at around this point that I realised the pain he was feeling at that very moment. No one deserves to be spoken to like that and that just isn’t the way to treat someone. But, I must say that this talk with Mr Perera was one of the most eye opening as I could relate a lot to it. Imagining myself in Mr Perera’s position- I cannot imagine what I would do with the anger I would be feeling at that moment. I would have definitely made a very rash decision that could have done more worse than good. Mr Perera’s story also made me realise something… there is a part of me that is egoistic. A part of me that is offended at someone looking down upon me, a part of me that feels the need to show to the rest of the world how wrong that person is. If I wasn’t that egoistic it wouldn’t be that hard for me to let it go. It wouldn’t hurt my pride to walk away.

Not only did he open my eyes to another part of myself but he also gave us all some very valuable advice when he explained that “A real fight could go so wrong.” When asked if there was any advice he would give himself at that time it would be to “Shut up and walk away.” He explained that standing up for yourself could lead to more trouble than good. This is real life not a movie and there was one thing everyone took away that day. “You don’t win fights” he advised us to throw away our ego and pride and make practical decisions in our own interest. Money is replaceable but our life isn’t.