Another Crazy Encounter..!!

I have learnt it very well that I am destined to have all sorts of adventures. So, a spiel from last Saturday. I was waiting for a bus with few others(people of rather different origin) in San Francisco. Then, appeared a rather tall, old stout lady, who gave all of us a stare and asked(rather ordered) us to move away, make some space for her, for, 'she was a disabled and had a heart attack'(exactly her words, indirect speech), some days ago. But, the way she behaved, it felt like everyone else around her was an untouchable soul.

She made her way to the bench, almost pushing everyone around, mumbling something, not sure what she was referring to but her gestures hinted that she particularly disliked me for no apparent reason. I was confused because we had never seen each other before this moment, and it was not even a minute or two since she was there. There was no apparent for being disliked, especially as that Indian instinct makes you rather more courteous with old people. I could sense that there was something wrong with her but I couldn't gauge what could that possibly be. This lady, a couple and I were waiting for the same bus. There were others waiting for a different bus.

The bus arrived in about 5 mins from then. There was no space to hop in from the front door. The driver asked us to use the backdoor. There was just enough space for 4/5 people. We made our way into the bus, the old lady sprinted(lumbered). I felt bad for her so I tried to occupy as less space as I could to make more room for her. But then, being nice and/or respectful has its own disadvantages(sometimes). I could read anger on her face. She barged in abruptly, rather forcefully, stamped my feet hard (and for the record, I am sure she did it intentionally, I could read it all over her). She gave me a stare, went past me, and then pushed a few passengers away(from the seat meant for disabled passengers). And then she told them, "Sorry, I didn't mean to touch you guys".....Seriously?

The bus just went past the first stop from where we started(barely 1/1.5 blocks), when she got back up and asked me to get my hands off the pole(the only support I could reach and hold on to). I didn't want to pick a fight with her(she definitely had more strength than me(considering how tall and bulky she was,in spite of being older, sometimes you need to pick your battles :-)) . And, for some reason, I still felt bad for her.

So, I held on to a lower portion of the pole, leaving the other three quarters+ of the pole for her support, But she yelled at me, saying " I am disabled and I had a heart attack." By now, I had had enough, so I gave it back to her this time "So, that's why you want me to have a heart attack now(sarcastically)?".

I was standing near the rear door and felt like she was going to get down on the next stop, so I tried to make some extra space for her. She pushed me(literally this time), (but some other passengers who were observing this drama) held my hand and pulled me back up and yelled at her "She has given you ample of space. Where do you want her to go?" I was surprised but people did care a lot about the whole incident. I was baffled but the situation was so strange that I ended up laughing. I laughed briefly because I was going through this experience(it reminded me of one of my autistic classmates who bullied me in school one time :-), almost pulled my hair out, literally and I didn't do anything because I took pity on her). I definitely, did not want to offend the old lady.  I wasn't even looking at her. She came closer, made some weird faces and said "I will f*%@ing kill you bitch". I had no idea what just happened. But a few other people on the bus started yelling at her, another lady pulled me further back in. The old lady turned around, towards me,  and a guy got in between..

This happened in a drive less than 0.4 miles long and it occurred so fast, that I couldn't believe it was real. She got down at the second stop. Everyone in the bus seemed relax now. Those girls who were pushed away from the seats, did not sit back there(in fact no one took those two seats for a while) and were making fun of her for rest of the time.

And, I ? ...I was still amazed.

Courtesy: Pixabay

“Calling it lunacy makes it easier to explain away the things we don't understand.” 

― Megan Chance