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Tonight I was waiting at the bus stop, and had just walked up to a Native man, who was carrying all his belongings in a few different bags, asking a blonde woman what bus he should get on to get to a particular street. She acted like she couldn’t hear him.
A bus pulled up & he asked the driver which one to get on & the driver answered. The bus pulled away & the three of us were again standing together, so he asked again to confirm - she was silent. I wasn’t as familiar with the route & had looked it up so I confirmed for him too.
He walked away & we kept waiting. Another blonde woman joined us. The Native man came back & asked the 2nd blonde woman to move so he could get to his stuff he had placed under the awning out of the snow. She also acted like he was a gust of wind instead of a human.
Another bus pulls up, different from the one him & I needed. The two blonde women board it. He looks at me after the door has closed and says “Well, at least we don’t have to get on the same bus as those bishes.” I laughed. Hard. (I could not have agreed with him more.)
We boarded & sat across from one another & talked. He had a new snow suit that he’d picked up from a local shelter & told me he hadn’t yet tried it on & hoped it fit. Said he was heading to Denny’s for a $2 meal. I told him I was Oglala & he asked me if I was crazy. We laughed.
I pulled the cord for my stop & we wished each other good night, I told him I hoped his snow suit fit & he laughed saying it was probably going to be too small. End scene. No fear like I saw with those women who decided he was a gust of wind passing by, paralyzed by his presence.
Imagine what it feels like to have the people around you act like you don’t exist because you present a particular way. And that every day of your life is standing asking for the bus number & people passing you up because of the fear or belief that they know who you are.
When all you’re tying to do is make sure you have a good meal, that your snowsuit fits, & that you take the right route to make it to court on time tomorrow - just like he said. Just like all the things we have to do for ourselves day to day to get through.
Don’t look away from others.
