O tempora, o mores
Jan. 10th, 2007 11:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lprovenSad story: on Saturday night, I was making my way home by nightbus from a friend's 40th birthday party over near Lewisham. This involves a long trip & 2 or 3 buses, so I went to the top deck, dug out my book, inserted my sound-blocking headphones and put some music on my phone.
A young black guy from a raucous group down the front of the top deck came over and said something to me. I removed a 'phone and asked him to repeat himself. He was congratulating me. I was bemused. He proceeded to tell me that it was good of me to get my phone out; most white guys, he said, wouldn't have taken a flashy phone out of their pocket if they saw that there was a bunch of black kids in the vicinity. He was touched - and seemed genuine - by my trust and lack of bigotry. He shook my hand in thanks.
I am the last person to place much trust in human nature, but this came as an unpleasant surprise to me. Perfectly pleasant kid - yeah, loud, probably a bit pissed, along with his mates, but still...
Maybe it's 'cause I'm a big b*st*rd who habitually wears black leather and wanders the city alone late at night. It hadn't even occurred to me to be worried by this lot. I get no hassle off anyone, normally, and haven't done since I had blond hair a long time ago*, when I got a lot of "gay" jibes, but I'm not fazed... But even so... [Sigh]
* E.g. "Ey, boy, you gonna get some cock tonight, ey?"
My response: "Well, if I do, darling, it'll be better than yours..."
A young black guy from a raucous group down the front of the top deck came over and said something to me. I removed a 'phone and asked him to repeat himself. He was congratulating me. I was bemused. He proceeded to tell me that it was good of me to get my phone out; most white guys, he said, wouldn't have taken a flashy phone out of their pocket if they saw that there was a bunch of black kids in the vicinity. He was touched - and seemed genuine - by my trust and lack of bigotry. He shook my hand in thanks.
I am the last person to place much trust in human nature, but this came as an unpleasant surprise to me. Perfectly pleasant kid - yeah, loud, probably a bit pissed, along with his mates, but still...
Maybe it's 'cause I'm a big b*st*rd who habitually wears black leather and wanders the city alone late at night. It hadn't even occurred to me to be worried by this lot. I get no hassle off anyone, normally, and haven't done since I had blond hair a long time ago*, when I got a lot of "gay" jibes, but I'm not fazed... But even so... [Sigh]
* E.g. "Ey, boy, you gonna get some cock tonight, ey?"
My response: "Well, if I do, darling, it'll be better than yours..."
