I was out this evening to take hubster his dinner while he was at work. On my way back home, I was stopped at a red light. I saw that a van in waiting on the cross street was dragging a plastic container under his vehicle. I attempted to flag him to let him know he was dragging the container and you know what I got??? The guy in his passenger seat looks right at me sticks his arm out the window and gives me a gun signal pointing at me… he continued is through the intersection looking at me the entire time.
God damn. I am not the enemy. I am a mother and a wife and a woman trying to make a life. I try to do something nice and it blows up on me. I am so tired of standing out and being a “symbol” of Islam. I am simply a believer, and not a very exemplary one at that. I just want to go about my business and not have to be the walking mannekin of the nice muslima. Yes, ma’am, no sir, how are you today? Smile smile smile at idiot people who can’t get beyond themselves. I really need to blend in a bit.
You are not the bad guy. The people who are blind in this society, who don’t care about anything but making themselves happey despite everyone else, who never think twice about others if it is of any inconvenience, those people are the bad guys.
All we can do is live our lives the opposite of those people and hope it somehow rubs off on those bad guys.
Salam alaikoum,
Let me share in the wisdom of something I learned at Ole Miss: The Art of the Fake A** Smile. I went to this little village in Switzerland yesterday and you would have thought I was an alien of the Suri Cruise variety. What did I do? Gave everyone my Miss Ole Miss smile and acted super chatty and fake friendly. That way I freaked them out even more. The other thing that works in those types of situations is playing Japanese Tourist- Just smile and wave. Better yet, get out a camera.
No seriously, but besides that, have you thought of calling the cops on redneck buttheads like that? Get a plate next time and call the cops. Sure they won’t listen but you will have a record. One little incident today, Tim McVeigh tomorrow. I am from a redneck town too.
[...] Maybe. Maybe my high school alter ego is coming back. Maybe that girl who only blew a fuse every blue moon…oh but when she blew a fuse…maybe she’s coming back. When do you get to a point where niceness and politeness isn’t enough? The person is belligerent, racist, stupid and brick-brained. When do you go off? I haven’t gone off on anyone in years. I think the last time I really blew up (heh, no pun intended) was in 2001. So, since before September 11th, I haven’t had a reason to go off or I found a creative way to express myself. I’m thinking about this stuff in light of Ferrago’s post. Knowing the old me, I would have given that dude the finger and some choice words. [...]
You know, that makes me think of people who think someone is “hitting on them” when told that their fly is open. Some losers just like to attack and release venom, even at people who are trying to help them. Personally, I don’t really care about people anymore. I reached the point where i cannot tolerate the strain of being fake anymore. If someone wants to walk around with their crotch in full view or some junk attached to their car, good for them! ^_^
As-salaamu’alaykum wa Rahmatu Llahi wa Barakatuhu,
Isn’t it great that believers are rewarded for our intention *smile* AlhumduliLlah.
May God reward us for you good intentions and grant us to be patient. Ameen.
Ma’salaama
Farhana
You have to wear a thick skin when you depart from your domain.
When I go outside, some people will smile, and some won’t. Some even look hostile.
If a person stares too much, I stare right back until they remember their manners. This is probably not the most Islamic manner, but I’m working on being more like the Prophet (saw), but that is quite hard.
But more often, I meet nice people, and I try to concentrate on that when I see negativity.
M.
I also do that and stare right back at them for as long as it takes or I respond to the stares by saying hello, how are you doing?
It happens even if you blend in: I look totally jeans-and-tee-shirt, and when I tried to signal an RV that their back door was open and things were falling out, they gave me the finger, yelled bad words at me, and then tailgated me until I pulled over to an exit to get away. I think some people are so sure they’re being attacked by everyone, they interpret every gesture as aggressive. I know you’re right it would happen more often to someone who didn’t blend in, but it happens even if you do blend in.