I walked up to my bus stop one morning last week. I was about the eighth person in line. A few people ahead of me was this Indian dude talking on a cell phone. He looked to be about my age, was shortish, and wearing a really strange/funky hat with crazy red, white and blue fringe on top. He looked my way a couple times, but I made sure to avoid his gaze. A couple minutes later, the bus pulled up. He got on, then a few people later, I followed. As I started walking down the aisle to the back half of the bus, in my peripheral vision, I saw him standing in an empty two-seat row. He looked at me and said, "You want to sit here?" pointing to the window seat. I pretended I hadn't heard him as I stepped into another row on the other side of the aisle a couple rows in front of him (my stop is the first on the route, so there were plenty of open seats). Then I pretended I'd just realized someone had said something to me, so I turned to look at him. He was still standing, and said "You can sit here," and I just kind of shrugged and said "Ohh...that's OK" as I turned around and sat down.
I must admit I was a little shocked that the guy was so bold at 8 in the morning! Sure, maybe he just geniunely wanted to meet someone new, or someone else Indian, but that 30-minute ride to work every morning is my time to read, listen to music or just tune out the world in general. So unless you're really, really cute, I'm likely not interested!
The entire bus ride after that, I was all paranoid that the guy was going to get off at my bus stop, and then try to talk to me on my way to my office. Thankfully, he either didn't get off at my stop, or else just didn't try to approach me. And then the next morning as I walked to my bus stop, I was all worried that he'd show up after me, and then rather than offer me a seat, he'd just come sit next to me (which I guess he could've done anyway that first day, but there were a lot of people still piling onto the bus at that point). I was relieved when he didn't show. Though I've been taking the same bus at the same time nearly every day since June, I'm pretty sure I'd never seen that particular guy before (much less any Indian guy, really!).
Some readers will think I'm being a bit cold with my attitude/avoidance, but it's more my fear of having to give someone the brush-off/heave-ho/rejection down the road. In my (perhaps overly optimistic) mind, I feel like I'll know when a guy is someone I'd be interested in talking to or getting to know better. At the very least, I'd like to think he'd be a bit more smooth -- and subtle -- in negotiating our first contact!
1 comment:
lol! Maybe he was looking out for you. Maybe he was under the old school idea that a decent Indian woman should not be riding the bus alone. Or his parents have been putting pressure on him to find a nice Indian bride. I think I would have done the same thing.
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