The MUNI Chronicles: Oh No You Didn’t
i can be a bitchy, opinionated person, but the other thing is, i’m pretty passive aggressive. if someone’s annoying me, i might be rude to them (like purposely bump into them if they’re checking their cell phone while walking and not paying attention …), but i rarely confront random people because of their actions. the other day i decided to change that.
I was on the bus (where most annoying injustices occur), and this lady was sitting up in front, a few seats away from me. the front seats are supposed to be reserved for “seniors, and persons with disabilities,” and she was probably a senior, so whatever. the thing was, she had a heap of bags taking up the seat next to her. on an uncrowded bus, i do this all the time, so i don’t have to put my stuff on the floor, but this particular bus was becoming more and more crowded, and she didn’t move them. then, an older man got on, looking like he could hardly pull himself up the bus steps - and that hanging on to the handrail instead of sitting down might be the end of him. the lady didn’t volunteer to move her stuff, so he kindly asked her to do so. she got all huffy and proceeded to take FOR-EV-ER to pull her precious packages off the seat. when she finally had a few down, and was in the process of removing the last, the man sat gingerly on the edge of the seat - not trying at all to sit all the way back against her bags, but just enough, i’m guessing, to be able to give his body a rest. the woman pushed against his back, and flipped out - accusing him of wanting to sqash her stuff, and abruptly said, “EXCUSE ME, i’m not DONE.”
so i spoke up. i said, all he wants to do is just sit down. she got even more defensive and said, i was just trying to move my stuff. i know my rights, i am ALLOWED to have stuff on that seat. i replied and said, he’s supposed to be able to sit there and it’s just not fair that you would take a seat for yourself and a seat for your bags (or something to that effect). then she launched into this speech about how she was a lawyer, and she “wished she had her business cards on her,” and she knew she HAD THE RIGHT.” now, i don’t know how someone could be so mean and bitchy that they would actually get pissed about having to move their bags so an OLD MAN could sit down (it’s not like she even had to give up her seat)! but the cool thing was, everyone around me started to back me up. i bet six or eight people chimed in about how they couldn’t believe what she was doing, and how it wasn’t right that she should get TWO seats.
in the scheme of the universe, it was kind of a small victory. but, it was such a great feeling to know that i had SAID what all these people were thinking - and i think i’ll start doing it more often. awful people like that, who have gone through their lives doing rotten things, deserve to know that in general, society doesn’t agree with their behavior - and sometimes all it takes is one voice.
oh - and as i got up to get off at my stop, the crazy, angry lady - who was probably the same age as my grandmother - kicked me a few times in the shins as i made my way out of the bus. i just let it go, it was so petty. maybe she IS a lawyer …