Living Outside Societal Norms Is Not a License to Dehumanize
How my trip home reminded me that my voice matters
I met a man yesterday. I was traveling home from a conference in San Francisco, and I had to be at the greyhound bus station at five forty-five in the morning, as they scheduled my bus to depart at six fifteen.
What brought this man to my attention wasn’t anything he did, but something that the security guard did, and the reaction of a woman who recognized this man’s action for what it was:
judgmental attitude toward someone who does not confine themselves to societal norms.
I would like to say that I would have said something as well if I too had heard what the security guard said.
The Scene
There were, perhaps, six of us sitting along the wall of the main gate for the bus terminal, in various states of conciousness. But all of us with our eyes open. This man was the first person the security guard came to.
He didn’t ask to see the man’s ticket. He assumed because this man had no luggage, only a blanket, he didn’t have a ticket. He didn’t ask to see the man’s ticket, instead he told the man, “If you don’t have a ticket you have to get out.” The…
