SUNDAY, APRILL 6, 2009 4PM, I BOARDED THE BUS BOUND FOR WASHINGTON D.C.BY WAY OF NEW YORK CITY RETURNING HOME. MY BOYFRIEND WHO WAS LIVING IN TORONTO ACCOMPANIED ME TO THE BOARDING AREA. HE IS PAKINSTANIAN AND I AM BLACK. HE KISSED ME GOODBYE AND WE HUGGED. WHILE I WAS ON THE BUS I REMEMBERED THAT I HAD LEFT MY FOOD IN THE STATION. YOUR BUS DRIVER WAS ON THE BUS BUT NOT READY TO GO YET. I SAID TO HIM, "I LEFT MY FOOD INSIDE" AND HIS REMARK TO ME WAS, "WELL I HOPE IT DOESN'T STINK. I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY HE WOULD SAY THIS. AFTER GETTING IT, I GOT BACK ON AND TOLD HIM IT WAS ONLY WATER AND JUNK FOOD. THEN HE CAME WHERE I WAS SITTING AND ASKED ME WHERE WAS I GOING, I REPLIED MARYLAND BY WAY OF D.C. YOUR DRIVER SAID " I"VE BEEN TO D.C., ONCE BEFORE 911 AND ONCE AFTER . THIS BROUGHT FLAME TO MY FACE, AND NOW I UNDERSTOOD. THIS WAS THE WORST RIDE OF MY LIFE. I KEPT GOING OVER AND OVER IN MY HEAD ABOUT THIS SITUATION. AS A BLACK WOMAN, MY RACE HAS BEEN STEROTYPED ALL MY LIFE. I LIVE WITHIN 6 MILES OF THE PENTAGON AND WORK WITHIN 500 FT. I KNOW THE TRAGEDY OF 911 AND I ALSO KNOW THAT EVERYONE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST DID NOT PLAY A PART IN THAT. JUST LIKE I WAS NOT A BLACK PANTHER, NOR IN THE RODNEY KING RIOTS, AND I AM JUST AS AFRAID OF GETTING MY PURSE TAKEN AS ANY OTHER RACE. I HOPED THAT IN THE FUTURE YOUR DRIVER THINKS BEFORE HE SPEAKS.
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