Bizarre Elevator Encounter

Walter and I had a rather strange encounter in the elevator. It was Monday and we were heading out to the car so we could go to Olympia and see my Mom.

We live on the 1st floor of our apartment building and we take an elevator down to the parking garage where our car sits just outside the door. We pushed the button to call the elevator.

When the elevator arrived it was already occupied. A young girl (around 20 I would say) was inside with her bicycle placed diagonally in the elevator so it would fit. I try really hard not to make judgments about people based on their outward appearance. And in this case I didn't at first. The girl had the look of someone you might see on the Ave in the University District. She had a stud piercing below her lip and her hair was tweaked out kind of spiky.

We paused a moment because usually when someone is in the elevator with their bicycle they are getting out on the first floor to ride away on the bike. But this girl was not getting out - apparently she was taking her bike to her car. So Walter and I got into the elevator with the girl and her bicycle.

I sensed immediately that this girl did not really welcome us joining her in the elevator. I think she felt her space was somehow violated. There was enough room for all of us including her bike, but I got the sense she was uneasy. The doors closed and the elevator started downward.

Right away this girl started staring at Walter. It's normal for people to be curious and sometimes they look at Walter because they notice there is something different about his eyes and they wonder why he doesn't make eye contact the way most of us do. A glance is one thing, but staring gets me irritated. It's something they probably wouldn't do to a full-sighted person who would look back at them wondering what was going on.

It is my practice when I see someone staring at Walter or any other handicapped person to stare at the person who is staring. I figure if they think it's acceptable to stare at another human being then they should find it perfectly acceptable to be stared at. So I looked her full in the face. When I did that I noticed that not only was she staring, but she had a sneer on her face. That made me all the more determined to put a stop to this.

I held my gaze and it took several seconds for her to look away from Walter and notice I was staring at her. Once I got her attention I looked into her eyes for a second or two then looked away. I think she was angry that I challenged her in this way. A couple seconds later she looked at me and said "You look like someone who would be in a really gross movie." What?? What does that even mean?? I replied "Oh really?" The elevator doors opened and she started to exit.

She must have sensed I had no idea what she was talking about so she decided to clarify. She said "You'd have to be someone with almost no morals to do something like that." I guess she meant to be in a gross movie. I was dumbstruck and so was Walter. She left and we headed to our car.

Part of me wanted to ask her if she always makes judgments about other people based on how they look without getting to know them. But I knew there was no having a rational discussion with this girl. I think she was angry that I challenged her on being RUDE and she was just trying to say something shocking to get me back. Walter didn't know about the staring thing and figured she was on drugs or something.

It's a sad truth that there are many people in this world who just go around constantly angry with the world. Unfortunately I think this girl may be a resident of our apartment building. I kind of hope not to bump into her again any time soon.