Bus encounters
Apr. 18th, 2014 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheThis week, two interactions (or three, depending on how you count them).
A few days ago, I boarded the bus on my way home from work, during the last portion of rush hour. I noticed that soon a group of three teenage boys (who happened to be black; this figures later) boarded & I could have sworn I recognized them from prior bad social acts, so I was dismayed to see them join my general vicinity.
The bus began to get crowded, so I moved over in my seat so as to leave the adjacent one vacant. The very next passenger was an older gentleman & so, as my leftover seat was in the circle of leading seats, sat next to me. Then, a couple boarded; the woman was clearly in her last trimester of pregnancy. Had I been on the outside of my seat, I would have vacated, but I was boxed in. Not one of those three teens rose to offer a seat. I could only shake my head.
As the commute started, the boys began using vulgar language, including slurs against their own race (of which I am also a member). I was disgusted, but I held my tongue, as I had had a bad experience with young men similarly admonished in the past. (Those males, in their late teens to early twenties, retaliated for the remainder of their bus ride; this was about three years ago.) Thankfully, the bus driver, after about five minutes or so, pulled over the vehicle, turned around, and said to them, "I've heard you say the N-word, the F-word & the S-word. If you don't clean up your language, I'll put you off the bus."
The sad thing was that, even after this reprimand, the boys couldn't excise the words from their vocabulary; they merely lowered their voices, so the driver couldn't hear. When I disembarked, I first greeted him, then thanked him for saying something. While I had always exchanged pleasantries with him whenever I see he's my driver, we both engage in slightly more depth in the aftermath.
The other encounter was of a random morning commuter, trying to board the bus yesterday morning. He'd obviously just stopped at the ATM to withdraw funds, but all he had were $20 bills, whereas the bus only accepts $10 bills or smaller. I found $1.50 in my wallet & offered it to him. He thanked me but said that he needed to try to find his wallet, so he stepped off the bus. He seemed to find it after a minimal search & tried to signal to the driver to let him back on, but the bus driver was oblivious (even though I made some remark that he was making such an attempt). This morning, the same guy boarded, sat down next to me, offered me my money back (I declined), and proceeded to chat with me until we both got to the transit station. It's nice, I think for both of us, to realize that nice people still exist.
A few days ago, I boarded the bus on my way home from work, during the last portion of rush hour. I noticed that soon a group of three teenage boys (who happened to be black; this figures later) boarded & I could have sworn I recognized them from prior bad social acts, so I was dismayed to see them join my general vicinity.
The bus began to get crowded, so I moved over in my seat so as to leave the adjacent one vacant. The very next passenger was an older gentleman & so, as my leftover seat was in the circle of leading seats, sat next to me. Then, a couple boarded; the woman was clearly in her last trimester of pregnancy. Had I been on the outside of my seat, I would have vacated, but I was boxed in. Not one of those three teens rose to offer a seat. I could only shake my head.
As the commute started, the boys began using vulgar language, including slurs against their own race (of which I am also a member). I was disgusted, but I held my tongue, as I had had a bad experience with young men similarly admonished in the past. (Those males, in their late teens to early twenties, retaliated for the remainder of their bus ride; this was about three years ago.) Thankfully, the bus driver, after about five minutes or so, pulled over the vehicle, turned around, and said to them, "I've heard you say the N-word, the F-word & the S-word. If you don't clean up your language, I'll put you off the bus."
The sad thing was that, even after this reprimand, the boys couldn't excise the words from their vocabulary; they merely lowered their voices, so the driver couldn't hear. When I disembarked, I first greeted him, then thanked him for saying something. While I had always exchanged pleasantries with him whenever I see he's my driver, we both engage in slightly more depth in the aftermath.
The other encounter was of a random morning commuter, trying to board the bus yesterday morning. He'd obviously just stopped at the ATM to withdraw funds, but all he had were $20 bills, whereas the bus only accepts $10 bills or smaller. I found $1.50 in my wallet & offered it to him. He thanked me but said that he needed to try to find his wallet, so he stepped off the bus. He seemed to find it after a minimal search & tried to signal to the driver to let him back on, but the bus driver was oblivious (even though I made some remark that he was making such an attempt). This morning, the same guy boarded, sat down next to me, offered me my money back (I declined), and proceeded to chat with me until we both got to the transit station. It's nice, I think for both of us, to realize that nice people still exist.