Ugh. What a stupid comment - no wonder you were fuming. I'm seriously impressed that you were able to walk away so calmly. And no wonder it's made you question how people see you. People can be very ignorant, and I guess you get to see a lot of people at their worst. On the other hand, that mindless knee-jerk comment probably doesn't represent the default view of your whole ethnic minority population. Unfortunately, like minifiq says, that kind of attitude makes things worse in terms of tackling real racism. On another point, mc1rvariant's right; I think loads of people do feel they can rant at representatives - be that a paramedic, a policeman, an NHS manager or a British Rail ticket clerk - as a way of having a go at the system without having to think about the person they are attacking, particularly if that person's in uniform.