Help! My boss thinks he works for Homeland Security. [View All]

[brainshrub]

I'm not as good a writer or story-teller as most of the people here at DU, but I want to relay a disturbing conversation that happened between me and an over-zealous manager today.

I work as a recruiter for a truck-training school. As a recruiter, my job is to visit prospective students in their homes to see if they qualify to join the program to earn a CDL. (Commercial Drivers License.) Yesterday I interviewed a newlywed couple from Syria. They were polite and wonderful hosts. They even insisted that I try some Syrian-style coffee & cakes. (They were delicious.)

Unfortunately, the husband could not read or write English very well and they didn't have the finances to attend the school at this time.

This morning back at the office I was talking to a co-worker about how polite and interesting the Arab couple was and a manager overheard me. (Let's call this manager "Bob.") I was called into his office and grilled about the Syrians. He wanted to know what their furniture was like, if they had Al Jazeera on the television, if they spoke Arabic to each other, did they have a copy of the Koran in view and several rather intrusive questions.
I answered the first few questions, but then I began to hesitate.

"Bob," I said, "I know that we should be on the lookout for suspicious activity. But these folks were just a typical couple... nothing exceptional about them except that they are Arab."

"Do you love America?" Bob asked me with a deadpan serious face.

"Well yes, but I don't see what this has to do with..." I started to reply.

Bob cut me off. "If you had a choice to live here or in a 3rd world country, would you leave?"

"...No." Not seeing were Bob was taking this.

"Do you know why those countries are so violent?" He asked.

"Which countries are you talking about?"

"The Arab countries. Do you know what the main causes of violence in the world are?"

"Ummm...poverty and political repression?" Still not seeing what Bob's point was

"Mr. Brainshrub, don't give me smart-aleck answers. Stop being naive. Have you ever lived in a poor country?"

"Yes."

At that point his phone rang and while he was talking I walked out the door.

On one hand I see his concern: A terrorist with a CDL would have the legal paperwork & HAZMAT license to transport toxic material all over the country. On the other hand, what the @#$% does "loving my country" have to do with not wanting to invade someones privacy?

During the application process, I take notes about the potential student. I know all the answers to his questions and much more...but if I'm asked about this Syrian couple again I will refuse to answer.

Any advise? Am I doing the right thing?