And I’m not sorry that I did it.

It was cold this morning, I was waiting for the bus. It’s a pretty popular bus route, a lot of people go on it, generally people are nice and polite in that stereotypical Canadian way (you know, we apologize for just about everything – sorry about that). Bumps and nudges are common, but I always keep a close eye on my purse and make sure that it’s zipped up and under my arm all the time.

This woman wanted to get by me. Most of the time, I’m used to people saying ‘sorry’ and I move a little bit to one side or back to let them by. Most of the time, if I cannot move (or they don’t ask me to move), they’ll raise an arm so it’s parallel to me as they brush by. It’s not the first time that I’ve taken the bus or waited for the bus, so I’m pretty used to this behaviour.

What I was not expecting was for the woman to reach up with her hand and put it up against my chest and then push me while her hand was on my chest so I would stumble back so she could get by. Not only was she being incredibly rude, she was also touching me without permission and touching me in an area where, if she was not a medical professional or my boyfriend, I would prefer strange people to not touch me.

So I yelled at her. Loudly.

I don’t even remember exactly what I said, but I’m sure it was along the lines of “Don’t touch me!”.

And there was a transit official nearby (because, as I said, it’s a popular bus route) and he came over to ask me what was going on. I told him that she had pushed me and put her hand on me in an inappropriate area. I don’t care if I’m wearing a puffy winter jacket, I can still feel it when someone’s got their hands on me where they shouldn’t!

The woman, who had been in a rush, got defensive when the transit official asked if she had, in fact, pushed me and put her hand on my chest area because she is (and I quote) “a nice person”. Which led into an argument with the transit official and the woman about what was the appropriate thing to do when trying to get by someone (which, of course, does not involve putting your hands over someone’s breast and then pushing them so hard that they stumble backwards).

A few minutes later, and the transit official let her go with a huge warning after taking down her name (and checking her id), I got onto the bus and she was finally on her way – still rushing and pushing by people, but not putting her hands on them.

So… How was your Wednesday morning?