"I'm sorry you have to feel bad about me feeling bad," she said. She reached over and hugged me.
I have been meaning to go shopping all week but I've been putting it off because of the surge in Islamophobic attacks in Canada recently. I haven't felt safe being out and about in public alone. Last Thursday I forced myself to go out and do things the way I normally do, telling myself there are more rational and compassionate people out there then the bigoted ones. I wasn't entirely sure, but that's what I kept telling myself the whole time I was shopping.
Then the strange lady sat down next to me on the streecar. She flashed an extra friendly smile and said an extra warm "thank you" for the seat, which was entirely unnecessary.
I think we rode in silence for about ten minutes before we finally made eye contact. She jumped at the opening to talk to me.
"Has it been a tough week for you?" she asked.
I stared at her for half a second before I realized what she meant. "Yeah, it has," I said slowly.
She nodded sympathetically and told me how enraged she was at the way Canadians have been behaving following the Paris attacks.
"I'm so sorry," she said. Tears start streaming down her face.
"It's OK," I said, "you don't have to apologize, you didn't do anything!"
"I know but I feel so bad." The tears kept coming but she impatiently wiped them away and kept on talking. She wanted me to know that I'm welcome and accepted here. She recounted the Islamophobic incidents she's heard about - some of which I hadn't even heard about - and how utterly ridiculous and unacceptable they are.
I thanked her for telling me that. I assured her that there are more rational and compassionate people like her and me than there are the ignorant ones.
"I'm sorry you have to feel bad about me feeling bad," she said. She reached over and hugged me.
We kept on talking for a few more minutes before she had to get off. She said a tearful goodbye and bounded off the streetcar. I sat there trying to process this unexpected show of solidarity I had just witnessed, wishing I could recall every single word she said. I need to remember them when the next unpleasant incident happens. I didn't even ask for her name.
Thank you, lady. Camel-coloured coat. Glasses. Blond hair. Bright smile. I'm sorry if I was a little cold. I had my guard up and ready to fend off anything less than friendly. The last thing I expected was for a stranger to apologize for all the racism and Islamophobia that's been happening.
Yes, it's been a tough few weeks. But it just got a little bit better.
A supporter at the Rally Against Islamophobia in Toronto's north end on November 21, 2015 to support Muslim residents after several attacks targeted members of that faith community (Photo courtesy of Tasnim News Agency).
