A Man Was Mean To Me At The Bus Stop Today But I Made It A Teachable Moment Instead Of Showing Any Emotion Whatsoever
Full disclosure I teared-up *SLIGHTLY* on the bus later when I thought more about it but I’M. FINE. NO. SERIOUSLY. JUST. READ.
Ok. So. I had an encounter with a gentleman this afternoon and these are my thoughts on the exchange. He was white, somewhere between 58-70 (?), and he was *a bit* weathered. Worse-for-wear, if you will.
The man had lived his life thoroughly up until this point is what I am saying to you.
Me: *Walks up to bus stop*
Older Gentleman: *Walks up to bus stop*
We Both: *Smile Midwesternly at each other*
Older Gentleman: *Unintelligable mumbling in my direction*
Me: *Removing one headphone* I’m so sorry Sir, I didn’t quite hear you.
Older Gentleman: *A bit of a garbled sentence that I can’t quite understand about the weather*
Me: Oh yes, it is very pretty snow but I will be glad when the bus arrives!
Older Gentleman: *Some sentence fragments about my headphones and how he doesn’t like them because they could break off and get stuck in the ear drum*
Me: Oh goodness that seems painful!
Older Gentleman: But you like them though.
Older Gentleman: What bus are you waiting for?
Me: Um the bus? I think the 7? (The 3 ended up being the correct one)
Older Gentleman: *mocking my voice* Ummmm, the bus? *mumbing under his breath* Duh you stupid bitch.
***Now I am going to stop right here for a dramatic pause.***
“OH. MY. GOD! He did NOT just say that! Are you KIDDING me?! Holy. Shit. What did you say?!?! Did you pop off?! Please tell me you fucking let that old bastard have it.”
No. I did absolutely nothing. I gave absolutely no reaction other than very calmly turn up my headphones and then remove him from my reality.
“Excuse me, what? Hey were you actually just smoking a blunt with a homeless man at a bus stop today you loser?”
Lol. I can see why you’d think that, but you don’t have to do drugs to alter reality when you’re doing it because someone is being horrible to you.
“Uh, what? Am I going to need to smoke to read the rest of this?”
Do whatever you wanna do. Look, here is the deal. The bottom line is that I didn’t know what bus I needed. His question caught me off guard. Also, I somehow can completely understand and relate to his annoyance. I wish instead of mumbing to himself that I was a stupid bitch he had detected the confusion in my voice and simply followed up with perhaps a, “Where are you trying to go young lady?” and then maybe a bus suggestion. Although I am sure he wishes I had simply removed my headphones promptly after hearing the dangers they pose.
Unfortunately I needed them at that moment because it’s super-easier to remove someone from your reality when you have headphones on.
“Ok, seriously, what is this ‘remove someone from your reality’ bullshit?”
It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s when a man you’ve just met calls you a stupid bitch at a bus stop so he doesn’t get the privilege of being in your reality any longer.
“Um, excuse me but did you murder a hobo at a bus stop today?! Jesus christ! I hope the feds are seeing this!”
Not physically murder but completely remove any and all of my available attention away from his being to the point where he no longer existed, to me.
“You made him disappear?!”
No, I simply placed the attention I had placed on him previously in order to interact, elsewhere. So although he still physically stood there, to me (my own perception), he was removed.
“You are starting to sound a little bit like your old rambling father, Lauren. Seriously. The ironic thing is that this old man today reminded you a little of your father, and you were filled with pity, which is why you teared up later, isn’t it?”
Oh myself, you know me so well which is really good since therapy is not in my budget right now.
I guess after all that I am just wondering if that was the best way to handle that exchange. I know plenty of women who would have FLIPPED THE FUCK OUT ON HIM. Would that have been more beneficial for all of humankind and prevented him from calling another young woman a stupid bitch under his breath at a bus stop in the future? Maybe?
One tiny little thing I noticed though. I’ll have to backtrack and admit I didn’t remove him ENTIRELY from my reality, just like, 95%. Because I wanted to see if he’d notice or react whatsoever to my non-reaction (I’m assuming he’s lived a life of women and people in general reacting to his behavior versus not reacting). He very much noticed and he started copying my actions. I got out my dollar bill arbitrarily with no bus yet in sight, he got out his dollar bill. I walked up to each bus asking if they were going to my destination (2nd one was a charm), he was right behind me each time. It was as if he had no idea what to do because no one had NOT reacted to his behavior in so long (if ever) that the entire situation was so disorienting he just followed me.
EXCUSE YOU OLD MAN OBVIOUSLY YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT BUS YOU NEED EITHER, WHO’S THE STUPID BITCH NOW?!
Also, behavior is the weirdest!
Am I the stupid one because the old man silenced me and then just followed whatever I was doing so he didn’t have to think for himself? Or is he the stupid one because I speak mental illness fluently and if I need to take him right back to the forests of ‘Nam I will not hesitate next time we run into each other at the bus station?
Lesson for today: Kindness makes a difference.
Is it exceptionally sad that this man’s version of kindness equated to completely being ignored because I am only to assume he is only accustomed to conflict and combat?
But everyone’s experience is different and I showed an old incompetent man his version of kindness today even when he called me a stupid bitch versus get in a fight at a bus stop like some kind of screaming West End white trash garbage pile shaped into the loose form of a person and I just hope in some small way I had some kind of effect on his descisions in the future when it comes to calling nice young women stupid bitches out in public directly to their faces “unprovoked”.
Can you imagine if people all over the country collectively stopped reacting when someone is obviously being the worst? Those people would quickly get tired of not having any results and pick up something else to do. Can you just imagine if whatever they moved onto next was something constructive and beneficial?
It would be kind of the best.
So, about that older gentleman today. Well he’s definitely been removed from my reality so I mean I guess in the end that small exchange doesn’t actually matter but I did get this blog post out of it I guess.
I certainly won’t be seeing him again and I like loud music and have headphones in almost always so I won’t even hear a faint “hey stupid bitch!” if I ever happen to enter his reality again.
So, basically, just try to be kind.