Intolerance of Intolerance - Pt. 4

Then I closed my mouth again, changing my mind. It wasn’t in my nature to speak up in these situations. But then the older lady muttered something about the Fijian woman under her breath and it tipped me over the edge. Screw it, I thought. I knew I wouldn’t be happy with myself if I didn’t stand up for what I believed in.
“She’s right you know,” I say to the older lady and nodding in the direction of the Fijian woman.
The Fijian woman smiled at me - I could tell she was grateful that I had spoken up too. She mouthed a “thank you” at me.
The older lady’s face seemed to twist up in a mixture of shock and rage, her anger re-ignited, “You have no right to speak to me you stupid boy!”

Feeling the brunt of the older lady’s outburst I realised just how strong and brave the Fijian woman had been.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself; I knew I wouldn’t achieve anything if I let my own anger get the better of me. Forcing myself to look at her again, I said, “She has just as much a right to sit where she wants as you do. You’re no more deserving of anything than she is.” I was surprised at how eloquently I spoke considering how mad I was, and all the things that I could have said. And all the things she deserved to be told.
The older lady let loose another barrage of verbal abuse on me. It almost looked as though her tongue was actually that of a snake’s rather than a human’s. I just looked away, trying to ignore her. Nothing I said would get through, and the moment I realised that I felt quite sad.

Suddenly the bus slowed down and pulled onto the side of the road, but not at a bus stop. The bus driver turned around to the older lady and said, “Look, I don’t have to listen to you on this bus okay? So just be quiet.” The way the bus driver spoke to the older lady so abruptly gave me a strange sense of satisfaction. I hadn’t been aware that she’d been watching and listening to what was going on. She called the Asian girl to her and had a brief discussion. I saw her motion to one of the other front seats, offering it to her so that she was further away from the older lady, but she declined and walked back to where she’d been, opposite me.

The bus took off again, and not much else was said by anyone. The older lady indignantly picked up her bags and made a show of placing them on the seat which the Asian girl initially tried to sit in. I hear the girl sitting behind the bus driver, who'd been reading, tell her that the older lady once spat on another passenger.

When the Fijian woman, the Asian girl and I stood up to get off the bus at the station, the older lady looked out the window and said, “Good riddance.” I looked at her in disbelief and pity.

The three of us ended up on the same train carriage too, and the Asian girl who I hadn’t heard speak went over to the Fijian woman and thanked her, then looked at me and nodded a “thanks” too.

Whilst I was happy that I’d spoken up, for most of the train ride I felt a mixture of feelings. Part of me felt ashamed that a member of my community could be so ignorant, part of me felt depressed that that level of intolerance still existed, and another part of me felt naïve for not realising that racism and elitism were still so prominent in society.
Luckily I had a great afternoon, but even the high from that wasn’t enough to stop me from not sleeping very well that night.

I realised in the morning though, that I did the right thing, and I felt proud of myself. I was also reassured and inspired by knowing that people like the Fijian woman are out there doing the right thing. I decided that next time I won’t hesitate to speak up.