Tram 67

March 14th 2008 Friday.

I was hanging out in the 10th district, and took a ride with tram 67. As soon as I got on the train, a drunken guy of age around 25 said some of those typical stupid lines to me, such as ‘where ya from you faggot!’ I ignored, and went to the first train of the tram. During the ride, I could still hear him repeating the same lines from the back of the train, even with my earphones on… ‘Na woher kommste du Woamer? Österreich ist nicht dein Land! Woher kommste? Aus Tokyo? Geh z’rück nach Tokyo!’

I ignored, and calmed myself down, reminding me every split of second that I should not say anything back, coz it’s just gonna be a reason for those crazy people to pick up a fight.

Apparently, my ignoring + fiercely listening to iPod didn’t work out completely. After 3 stops or so, he came up to me, drunkenly stupidly asking me where I’m from, in Austrian German, which I actually understand. I didn’t bother to answer, so he took off my earphones and asked me again.

‘None of your business’ I said, coldly. He repeated the question again with calling me fag. All this time everyone else on the train just looked, of course they were afraid too.

Finally, the driver stopped the tram and came to ask what was going on. The drunken guy said he just wanted to know where the god damn fag comes from and he wants me to return there. The driver asked again, and the drunken guy finally went back to the back.

The old lady sitting across me made a gesture of ‘craziness’ to show sympathy to me. I appreciated that with a smile. Very mild, very Austrian, if I can out it like that.

It was such a great relief when I got back to Neubau, the 7th district. The air just felt much more modern, and free. When I got out of the station and lit up a cigarette, a black guy asked me if I could give him one of them. We started chatting and he shared my hatred against racism. He and his friends were on their way to a party, and asked if I wanted to tag along. I couldn’t though unfortunately, but really appreciated the kind offer from strangers. When I was about to leave, his cute half Nigerian half Austrian friend hugged me. That did rebuild my confidence on strangers.

So yes, I had a great day that day.

No Comments Yet

No comments yet.

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI