All of us have seen what is going on in the news. The death of George Floyd and numerous of other black men here in the United States has brought the conversation of race to the forefront of everyone’s minds. I definitely know it has been on my mind. I am the mother of a young black man, wife to a black man, daughter of a black man, sister to two black men, and the list goes on. But I wanted to share a conversation my husband had with someone. That conversation was so simple but yet so meaningful.
Last weekend The Husband, Tyler, and I were at the bank. The business we had to take care of required that we park and go inside the bank. So The Husband pulled up and started to back up when suddenly a middle aged white woman walked behind the car. The Husband was shocked so he yelled out the window “seriously! “ . He said this twice. The woman had scared him. Actually she scared all of us cause we didn’t see her. When The Husband had checked before there was no one there. When the lady heard him she said sorry but you could tell she was offended by his response. However she continued walking. The Husband backed up into the parking spot. Because of covid the bank would only see us by appointment only. We had a good fifteen minute wait so we were just sitting in the car.
As we waited suddenly the white woman appeared at our window. She apologized for walking behind the car. That’s when she and The Husband had a conversation. He explained to her that his response was because she scared him that he wasn’t expecting to see her behind the car. She paused for a moment to process what he said. Then she explained that when he said seriously she took it a different way. She said that’s part of the problem. I can only assume that she meant how sensitive people can be and that things could be different than what they appeared to be. She thought he was being rude when actually he was scared. She was almost in tears from the conversation. I was amazed that they talked out their feelings and both of them got better understanding as to what the other was thinking and feeling. I appreciated both of them for listening to the other. Honestly the conversation could’ve went any other way.
It was amazing to see two individuals talk rather than it turning into a situation that no one wanted. Both of them could’ve placed the blame on the other but they didn’t happen at all. I was surprised the woman came over to the car at all. I was suspicious at first but it turned out she had good intentions. I guess she just felt compelled to talk. I wish more conversations like this could happen. It would help so much if people could understand where someone else is coming from. Some things just aren’t as simple as just follow the rules.
