Yesterday on my way home, I engaged in my usual commuting routine. I settled myself on the bus, caught up on Facebook, checked my three email accounts and was about to switch to my book. However, today's routine was going to be speckled a bit.
As we approached a stop that typically has the most riders board, I noticed there seemed to be more noise than usually at the stop. At first, I couldn't place the noise. Then, I saw a man who had found a large platform to stand on and he was spouting out his own platform. I also noticed across the street that he had a collaborator wearing a sandwich board. The duo's mission was to inform everyone that we were sinners, unless we were as ultra-conservative as they were. (And based on the list on the board ... not sure how many people would qualify by these men's standards.) Because I was nestled into my seat and the doors and windows were closed, I wasn't able to really make out what the man was shouting.
However, many people who had just boarded the bus found it to be there mission to make sure everyone else on the bus understood what the man had been preaching and how they wish he would have left the bus stop. In fact, they went on for a full twenty minutes, loudly expressing their opinions of the public display. And that is what I found most compelling. That these people felt that this man's cajoling was an intrusion, but they found it perfectly acceptable to intrude on my peaceful commute home by shouting their dis-satisfaction. And some of the things they said ... I cannot even put it into print, I was so disgusted by their ignorance.
The irony of them exercising their own freedom of speech to discount someone else's freedom was truly a fascinating display of human behavior.
No comments:
Post a Comment