Lesson 41. Try to see the good in someone suspecting you of terrorism.

I dragged my tired, tuckered-out tootsies onto the bus today and stood way too close to numerous strangers. Some of you may find this an enjoyable experience, I suggest you see someone about this and I inform you that I most certainly did not. When a seat freed up I leapt at the opportunity to rest if only for a few minutes. I positioned my guitar in a way that would not bother anyone and took my seat beside a fairly normal looking elderly man. Oh how wrong I was.

"You could be a terrorist! You could have a gun in that case! Is that a gun?"

My new bus buddy was not at all hesitant to speak in a very loud voice and declare his suspicions about terrorist activity taking place next to him in the form of a 18 year old middle-class female. He succeeded in gaining the attention of the majority of the vehicle and seemed satisfied with my awkward mumbled explanation of how it was just a guitar. He muttered a few things to himself and then his shifty eyes followed the sidewalk instead of my movements. I breathed a sigh of relief and then realised that I was still sitting on a bus that 90% of passengers were suspicious that I was in fact the next Osama Bin Laden. At least this anecdote provides comic relief for you and potentially me at a later date. Anyway, because I wanted to share this peculiar happening with you, I was forced to find the good in a somewhat odd situation. 

What were my findings? Well for starters, it made an excellent facebook status. Just joking. (But not really, who doesn't love a successful facebook status?) However, it did teach me a few things about life. 

1. Some people still have safety at heart. I know, accusations of terrorism is potentially the worst way to portray the interest you have in the safety of the people around you, but nonetheless, it is a way. My friend was aware of the people around him and was willing to speak up for them. The world is a slightly brighter place when someone is willing to put themselves on the line for the sake of your safety.

2. The embarrassing things occasionally work out for the better. Because everyone thought I might take them out with my 13kg guitar case/bomb, no one spoke to me the whole way home. This meant that after my exhausting 8-5 day, I could sit on the bus in peace.

See, there are good things on every bus if we only look for them. I hope this journey you and I have been on is starting to open your eyes to the beauty in everyday and the opportunities to learn, I know it's constantly opening mine. When something embarrassing or startling happens, consider it a challenge. Try your hardest to find the good in it, I promise it's hiding in there somewhere. It might be hiding behind the baffled looks of other passengers, but I promise it's in there. Try to see the good in someone suspecting you of terrorism.