“Aristotle's axiom: The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”
― Laurence J. Peter, Peter's People and Their Marvelous Ideas
And this is so much true. I have encountered quite a few, such instances in the last few years, that too quite frequently. As I always say, getting a degree in itself does not make you educated, if you possess a bloated chauvinism and just can't sound rational. This is not about a specific gender, male or female.
Although, most of my experiences encircle an unempathetic attitude demonstrated by the male counterparts, that does not in itself claim the generalization of the postulate at all. I have come across and have known more of those who are thoughtful, mindful and reasonable.
This one is specifically about what happened just today, once again, only a different face. After waiting for over an hour or so ( reasons: heavy rain, bad roads, and mad traffic), I boarded the office shuttle. Most of the rows were occupied, with each colleague holding the respective window seats and their bags, on the seats next to them. I requested one of them to let me grab the seat next to him. From his gesture, it felt as if I asked for a piece of land from his highly regarded kingdom. He had no go but to take his bag away from the seat next to him. But he himself was still occupying one fifth to quarter of my seat, just because he wanted to sit down in a rather, more relaxed way and maybe because the only thing he cared about was his own comfort.
I waited for a few minutes, to give him time to realize that I need space to sit comfortably as well. The seats in the bus are designed in a way that if you do not assume the right posture, there is no doubt you will get a backache. After a short interval, I requested him to shift back to his own seat for the same reason. He murmured: "One or the other person has this problem everyday. I will rather move to another seat(in a very rude tone and rather rough way).
To me this behavior of that guy was rather a prejudiced support for one's own comfort. So, I ended up saying "As you wish!". He got really offended and briskly moved to another seat.
This is not a permanent solution to this problem at all, for someone else would face the same situation again, the next time (s)he happens to sit next to this guy in the bus, for he has no regard to comfort of others. He has not been the only person I have had a difficult conversation like this, with. But I am comfortable doing that because 'It's not OK'.
I have talked to a lot many people and realized that many of those who suffer just don't speak up , because they either do not want to come across as a rude person or have already given up after several attempts. But this not only approves of their behavior but also makes them believe that they have been doing the right thing and eventually a license to be even more ruthless the next time.
“In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
