Why Can't I Be An Anonymous Member Of A Crowd?
Yesterday morning (well before I had any caffeine and was therefore not alert enough to avoid eye contact with "the outsiders") I was sitting on the subway across from a woman, mid-twenties and white. I say she was "white" not because I mean to abandon a facade of "colorblindness" all white people propose to have, but because it plays into my story in a tragically awkward way later.
She was sitting in the seat with her legs outstretched and crossed when an older woman carrying groceries (she was [whisper] black [end whisper]) tried to get past her to sit. After having a bit of trouble, the older woman said rather sharply, "You shouldn't stretch your legs out like that. People are trying to get past you and you're on a train, not at home." She sat down in a huff and the younger woman looked at me with a confused look. I gave her a bemused grin and the customary "Ain't The World A Crazy Place" shrug.
She then proceeded turned to the old woman and said, "I'll sit any damn way I want to. Who are you to tell me what to do," before looking back at me again. I stupidly made eye contact again, even though at this point (if I would have been in a Hollywood big-budget action film) I should have noticed the ominous ripples in the Awkward Social Situation Glass Of Water.
The two of them started really getting into it, and when the younger woman got off at the next stop, she paused in the doorway to yell, "Yeah? Well you're just a stupid black bitch." Then she looked at me.
It was then that I realized that she had made a critical misinterpretation of my wordless gesture. I was giving her the "Ain't The World A Crazy Place" shrug, which she mistakenly took to be the "Anything You Say From Here On Out I Am Cool With" knowing nod. It's a subtle, but very important distinction. I sympathize with you right up until the point where you take the fork in the road to ScreamingBigotsville.
I spent the next ten minutes spent on the train with the now reasonably infuriated older woman while she glared at who she assumed to be the covergirl for Pointlessly Racist Monthly's accomplice. It was a particularly poignant moment that I was forced to experience at 9:30 in the morning.
She was sitting in the seat with her legs outstretched and crossed when an older woman carrying groceries (she was [whisper] black [end whisper]) tried to get past her to sit. After having a bit of trouble, the older woman said rather sharply, "You shouldn't stretch your legs out like that. People are trying to get past you and you're on a train, not at home." She sat down in a huff and the younger woman looked at me with a confused look. I gave her a bemused grin and the customary "Ain't The World A Crazy Place" shrug.
She then proceeded turned to the old woman and said, "I'll sit any damn way I want to. Who are you to tell me what to do," before looking back at me again. I stupidly made eye contact again, even though at this point (if I would have been in a Hollywood big-budget action film) I should have noticed the ominous ripples in the Awkward Social Situation Glass Of Water.
The two of them started really getting into it, and when the younger woman got off at the next stop, she paused in the doorway to yell, "Yeah? Well you're just a stupid black bitch." Then she looked at me.
It was then that I realized that she had made a critical misinterpretation of my wordless gesture. I was giving her the "Ain't The World A Crazy Place" shrug, which she mistakenly took to be the "Anything You Say From Here On Out I Am Cool With" knowing nod. It's a subtle, but very important distinction. I sympathize with you right up until the point where you take the fork in the road to ScreamingBigotsville.
I spent the next ten minutes spent on the train with the now reasonably infuriated older woman while she glared at who she assumed to be the covergirl for Pointlessly Racist Monthly's accomplice. It was a particularly poignant moment that I was forced to experience at 9:30 in the morning.
posted by Megan at 12:11 PM
1 Comments:
That post made me laugh, which is great because I'm normally such a misanthrope.
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