Monday, September 22, 2008

i guess i looked like a heathen

something odd happened to me the other day that i've been meaning to write about but haven't gotten around to it until today.

i take the bus to work since my work will pay for my pass and since gas was so outrageously expensive when i started a few months ago. which means that every morning i either drive or my husband drops me off at the park and ride that is about 10 minutes from our apartment. part of why i like riding the bus is that it means i get to read on the way to and from work. (which means i don't have to find time to read after i get home.) it also means that i have at least 45 minutes extra in the morning to wake up fully by the time i get to work. i also don't have to pay attention to anything or anybody else on the road. all in all, a win-win situation for me. (i am NOT a morning person, so having this extra time to wake up is great for me.)

that being said, i usually don't talk much to people at the bus stop or once i'm on the bus past "good morning". so the other day i'm standing there waiting for the bus. i'm half asleep, as usual. as i'm standing there yawning and generally trying to wake up, a woman walks up. she says good morning, so i say good morning, fully intending to leave it at that. then she launches into her spiel about what do i think God's plan is for the government, etc. WTF? it's barely 7:15 in the morning, i'm half asleep and you're asking me about God at the bus stop of the park & ride? i tend to do my best to not be rude to people, even if i DESPERATELY want to be rude to them. i mean, come on. i was raised that you don't talk politics OR religion in polite company. EVER. and this stranger wants to talk BOTH before i'm even awake? um, NO.

(let me say this: i believe in God. i'm just not one of those people that will start a conversation with a total stranger and start espousing the wonders of what God has done for me in my life. it's just not who i am or what i do. does that make me a bad person? does it make others doubt my belief? i don't think so. and i think that the people who DO think that may not be the brightest crayons in the box. i have a relationship with God that i don't ever feel the need to justify/define for other peoples satisfaction.)

i was polite. we chatted a bit. i told her i'd grown up catholic. that while i didn't read the bible as often as i probably should, i generally enjoyed it when i did. she wanted to give me some pamphlets which i politely declined. mercifully my bus showed up then and i had to go. as i got on the bus i looked out the window. i was wondering if she was going to accost someone else and get their take on who should run "God's government". and? apparently i was the ONLY heathen at the bus stop that morning, because she was walking back towards the parking lot to her car. wtf??

2 comments:

Stacia said...

My dad always says you should NEVER talk about religion and politics, especially where the two meet. Maybe you looked like the only person who wasn't a heathen and that's why she talked to you.

tbooty said...

i don't know, but it was really funny after the fact. especially with what vrock went through in salem with all that drama that came of talking relgion.