ShahnazZ
Striving2BeAStranger
Tell me how pretty you think this is.
I'm sitting on the bus on my way to work when all of a sudden a black woman standing next to my seat "accidentally" swipes her hand across my face. Her ring scratched the side of my face and I ended up gasping in shock. This idiot then turns to me and in an extremely sarcastic and condescending tone goes "Sorry. It was an accident." She said this as if she were daring me to respond to her. I responded in the same tone that her "little accident" really hurt. She then got all up in my face and (in her less than classy repertoire) reiterated that she didn't go around swiping people in the face and moved to the back of the bus.
It took me every ounce of strength that I had not to respond to her with a well deserved remark that would send her all the way back to the stone age where she belonged. I do believe I sat there in shock for the rest of my ride and by the time I got to work (and even now) I can't help but reach up to touch the side of my face to see if there's a welt forming. Initially I did wonder if it was an accident. However, the look on her face and the tone of her voice basically told me that she knew what she was doing. When I mentioned this to my co-workers, one of them asked me if I had seen the news this morning. I responded I hadn't. She told me that two Somali men had been arrested in a NJ airport this morning on attempted terror charges and that she wasn't surprised that the backlash had already begun. She told me that since I'm so "obviously Muslim" because of my hijab that I need to be extremely careful.
Honestly, how am I supposed to be careful when all I did was get on a bus to go to work? I didn't go out of my way to do anything extraordinary. This just happened to me while I was undertaking a normal everyday routine. I don't understand why it's the fault of every individual muslim when a few are assumed to be unjust and evil. I'm sitting here, angry and frustrated, that I have to go through something like this when I was born and raised in this country just like everyone else. It's disgusting the levels that ingrates like this will sink to and what's worse is that in order to display our class and tolerance, its the victims that have to take the high road and ignore it all, despite the fact that it was a physical act.
In addition to carrying pepper spray, I ask you all to just make dua for all the Muslim brothers and sisters that are about to be victims of such backlash as we know such occurrences are now becoming everyday incidents. In all honesty, it seems like this is only the beginning.
JazakAllah khair for listening.
I'm sitting on the bus on my way to work when all of a sudden a black woman standing next to my seat "accidentally" swipes her hand across my face. Her ring scratched the side of my face and I ended up gasping in shock. This idiot then turns to me and in an extremely sarcastic and condescending tone goes "Sorry. It was an accident." She said this as if she were daring me to respond to her. I responded in the same tone that her "little accident" really hurt. She then got all up in my face and (in her less than classy repertoire) reiterated that she didn't go around swiping people in the face and moved to the back of the bus.
It took me every ounce of strength that I had not to respond to her with a well deserved remark that would send her all the way back to the stone age where she belonged. I do believe I sat there in shock for the rest of my ride and by the time I got to work (and even now) I can't help but reach up to touch the side of my face to see if there's a welt forming. Initially I did wonder if it was an accident. However, the look on her face and the tone of her voice basically told me that she knew what she was doing. When I mentioned this to my co-workers, one of them asked me if I had seen the news this morning. I responded I hadn't. She told me that two Somali men had been arrested in a NJ airport this morning on attempted terror charges and that she wasn't surprised that the backlash had already begun. She told me that since I'm so "obviously Muslim" because of my hijab that I need to be extremely careful.
Honestly, how am I supposed to be careful when all I did was get on a bus to go to work? I didn't go out of my way to do anything extraordinary. This just happened to me while I was undertaking a normal everyday routine. I don't understand why it's the fault of every individual muslim when a few are assumed to be unjust and evil. I'm sitting here, angry and frustrated, that I have to go through something like this when I was born and raised in this country just like everyone else. It's disgusting the levels that ingrates like this will sink to and what's worse is that in order to display our class and tolerance, its the victims that have to take the high road and ignore it all, despite the fact that it was a physical act.
In addition to carrying pepper spray, I ask you all to just make dua for all the Muslim brothers and sisters that are about to be victims of such backlash as we know such occurrences are now becoming everyday incidents. In all honesty, it seems like this is only the beginning.
JazakAllah khair for listening.