Sure, Why Not?

Okay, so I was riding the bus home from work today. These two guys sitting somewhere behind me get to talking to each other loudly about something or other. I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. I think it was about football, since they mentioned Marcus Vick and Terrell Owens a couple of times. Meh, not the point. Anyway, they were yakking and yakking. It was a pretty full bus, and they were pretty much the only ones talking. Talking very profanely at that, hehehe.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention to me in any way, shape, or form, you’d know that profanity does NOT bother me in the least bit. Particularly when not aimed at or involving me any. Hehe. This case was no exception. These guys were chatting, saying motherfucker and nigger (they were black) a lot. Didn’t bother me in the least bit.

Of course, seeing as there were other people on the bus, I was probably alone in that feeling. These two guys were talking and everyone else was just sitting quietly and staring off into space. Finally, the bus driver scolded them, saying they were being disrespectful and loud and obscene. For the rest of the ride until they got off, they toned down a little bit.

But it got me thinking and analyzing the situation a bit more. Free speech rights are a given, and even with all the profanity, there weren’t any children on the bus at the time (not that I believe that should matter). There was an old lady who had this nod and smirk of satisfaction when the driver told these two young men to quiet down. So, while I wasn’t paying too close attention to their conversation, they just seemed to be talking to each other. So what? Really they only stood out so much because they were the only ones talking.

What I noticed was this tacit rule that you’re never supposed to do anything out of the ordinary. Just sit still, stare off into space, and keep quiet. These guys wanted to talk to each other and got to laughing, yet somehow this was considered offensive. Profanity and constant use of the N-word, could be offensive. I can understand that. But there was this aura that seemed to imply these guys were being different from everyone else on the bus, so they are misbehaving. Or perhaps their merriment was offensive to the morose bus riders. Sad. It was nice something was somewhat livening up a rather mundane bus ride.

So at one of the bus stops before I got off, the two guys got up from their seats to disembark, and they passed by behind where I sat to get off through the back door. I said to them, “Don’t worry, guys. You weren’t bothering me any.” They thanked me and said they appreciated it, and they continued on out of the bus.