It's weird how some things in life keep coming back to haunt you.I ride the bus to work every morning with two pals who work for the same big university that I do. We always meet at the back of the bus so that we can sit in an L-shape and have a reasonably normal conversation (where one person isn't having to turn around constantly or crane her neck).
Yesterday morning, three high school girls boarded the bus, swinging their backpacks insouciantly, and made a beeline to the back, near us. One of them swung her backpack down on the seat behind me so that it semi-slammed into me. I said, "Ouch." But for the most part, I assumed they were just being oblivious and self-involved, the way teenagers tend to be.
As the bus ride continued, I noticed that they were pitching their voices very loud, almost like they were trying to drown out our conversation just to annoy us. The girl to my left shoved her backpack aggressively into me again. But I still couldn't quite believe it. They can't be doing this on purpose, thought I.
But they were! When their stop arrived, they flounced off, and one of them sarcastically called back to us, "Bye, ladies!"
Apparently, there is no age at which you can be absolutely safe from the jeers and taunts of bitchy teenage girls.
It's always weird to me when strangers make a point of interacting in a hostile manner. I feel like I spend most of my time in public *avoiding* interaction with people...
ReplyDeleteYour comeback, "Oh, yeah? Well, you'll be ladies, too, someday! Then see how you like it!"
ReplyDeleteHahha, yeah, that could've been good.
ReplyDeleteIt's the kind of situation that is lose-lose, because if you don't say anything, you're letting yourself be bullied by teenage girls...but if you DO say something, you're then fighting with teenage girls. Either way is very undignified!
I always think, when I was a teenager, I didn't engage in battling adults. It can be scary, too, because if they outnumber you ....
ReplyDeleteUgh. That's a downside of public transportation.