What do you mean "Uh-oh?"

Korra and the Doorman at a Tea Shop

• Korra: Why do you hate benders?
• Doorman: I don't hate benders. I have friends who are benders. One of my favorite teachers was a bender. I remember she used to build sandcastles for us to run around in on the playground. She was great.
• Korra: But you joined the Equalists.
• Doorman: I did.
• Korra: How can you say all that about your teacher and still want to be an Equalist? You helped Amon, and he was taking away people's bending. He took away my bending. He tried to destroy all benders!
• Doorman: What he said made sense. The benders are too powerful. They don't answer to anybody. My sister used to work at the powerplant. You know where that is?
• Korra: Yeah, I have a friend who lightingbends there. Hardworking firebenders power this city.
• Doorman: Nonbenders work there, too, like my sister. She was around your age back then. She supervised metalbenders and waterbenders and lightingbenders. Her university professor was the one who invented the power plant in Republic City. He was a nonbender, too.
• Korra: I didn't know that a nonbender invented the power plant.
• Doorman: Most people can name ten probenders but haven't heard of Teo--and he's the guy who powered this city.
• Korra: Your sister worked with benders. She knows how hard they work. Just because people are benders doesn't mean they have it easy. There are a lot of poor benders...I know some who lived on the streets.
• Doorman: We were poor, too. Our family lived on the streets for a while. We couldn't make shelter out of dirt. We had to make our own fire. We had to beg for water. We had to defend ourselves from benders who were also poor and would try and steal our food.
• Korra: That still doesn't make sense, why you'd join Amon.
• Doorman: It makes a lot of sense to me.
• Korra: What Amon did...it felt terrible. I felt so powerless. You don't know what it's like to have your bending taken away from you!
• Doorman: You're right, I don't. I don't know what it's like to have bending at all.
• Korra: But that's not my fault, or anyone else's fault, that you're not spiritual enough to be a bender.
• Doorman: I'm plenty spiritual. I just wasn't lucky enough to be born the Avatar. How can you look at someone who is a nonbender and just assume that you're more "spiritual" than they are?
• Korra: What did we do to make you hate us so much?
• Doorman: It's not what benders did...it's more like what they didn't do.
• Korra: That doesn't make sense. It just sounds like something Amon would say.
• Doorman: My sister tried to unionize the plant. Better hours and wages for the people who worked there. Rest breaks for the lightingbenders and the steambenders, fairer wages. She was walking home late one night when she was attacked. First they used earthbending to pin her down. Then they used waterbending to make her feel like she was drowning. Then they firebended her face to shut her up.
• Korra: Did they kill her?
• Doorman: No. But you can see how, after I learned Amon was hurt by firebending too, why I fell for that. I thought benders had hurt us both.
• Korra: They didn't do it because they were benders, they did it because they're gangsters and thugs and horrible people!
• Doorman: But they used bending to do it.
• Korra: Then they don't deserve to have bending. As the Avatar, I can take their bending away.
• Doorman: Chief Beifong personally investigated. They never found who did it, or the person who paid them to do it. Waterbender healers tried to help heal her but she has scars. Chief Beifong tried to teach her how to see with earthbending but my sister isn't a bender so it was no use.
• Korra: But listen to yourself! You're describing how all of these benders tried to help your sister.
• Doorman: Only after other benders hurt her first. Look, I'm not sorry for supporting Amon.
• Korra: Even if he was a liar.
• Doorman: Nonbenders got a raw deal from that, too. Now if anyone even dares to say the word "equality," people look at us like we're monsters.
• Korra: Why did you ask me to meet you here? It wasn't just for a cup of tea.
• Doorman: I wanted to explain why I was working for Amon. And I guess to apologize for hitting the Avatar.
• Korra: It didn't really hurt. I'm tough.
• Doorman: I guess I also thought you've probably talked to Equalists but never really sat down and listened to one. Why did you decide to come?
• Korra: I'm the Avatar. It's my job to listen to people. I'm supposed to represent everyone...even if they hate me.
• Doorman: I don't hate you.
• Korra: I don't hate you either.