A Depressing Encounter
On the way to the library, Wingnut and me stopped behind two women with a buggy while waiting for the crossing light to turn green. A passerby was approaching so we stepped back to make room on the footpath. Moments later in the park, we crossed the path of the two women with the buggy again. They had paused to wait for us, presumably to ask for directions. Wrong. The older woman wanted to know what I'd said about her daughter.
What?
It took some unravelling but her daughter had told her mother that I'd said something about her (the daughter), that she was dirty(?). Don't ask me what I said that was misheard, I haven't the faintest. My stepping back from them was taken as not wanting to stand next to "dirty" brown-skinned Muslims.
Is the Universe trying to develop a sense of humour or something?
There was nothing I could say to convince the woman otherwise, she was too angry. Not surprising, considering how she thought I'd attacked her daughter. And I can understand why she didn't believe me, evidently expecting racism as a matter of course. She wasn't even rude either, didn't call me names, just said things like, "we're all human beings." So she walked off thinking that another white person had had a go at them.
What?
It took some unravelling but her daughter had told her mother that I'd said something about her (the daughter), that she was dirty(?). Don't ask me what I said that was misheard, I haven't the faintest. My stepping back from them was taken as not wanting to stand next to "dirty" brown-skinned Muslims.
Is the Universe trying to develop a sense of humour or something?
There was nothing I could say to convince the woman otherwise, she was too angry. Not surprising, considering how she thought I'd attacked her daughter. And I can understand why she didn't believe me, evidently expecting racism as a matter of course. She wasn't even rude either, didn't call me names, just said things like, "we're all human beings." So she walked off thinking that another white person had had a go at them.