A story for Newsday on Wednesday that made me wince, because it revealed how at least a fraction of the hostility that America receives from the rest of the world may be justified.

The reporter, in New Delhi, discussed the picture of bigoted Americans that forms for Indians who answer the phone at a call center in Noida or Hyderabad.

The story opens with an anecdote from a 22-year-old woman named Debalina Das, who worked on a tech line for four months before quitting.

One American caller told her: "You Indian slut, in some (expletive) Third World country, roaming about naked without food and clothes — what do you know about computers? Have you ever seen one?"