On a sunny autumn afternoon a woman sauntered a shop to check scarves and under scarf caps( used by women who wears Hijab). She was checking few things for a while and then got stuck by the striking navy blue pashmina shawl , something similar she had been looking for a while . The scarf was put on display at the door.
She inquired from the shop keeper a tall guy with a dark beard, skull cap on his head and a big prayer mark on his forehead. ‘Where can I find that blue scarf inside the shop ?’ he pointed her to a row of scarves without looking at her.
The woman went to that shelf, there were indeed pashmina shawls, she checked them one by one , much to her disappointment the blue shawl wasn’t in there. She picked up other two colors that she liked thinking the blue shawl might be over. She went over to the counter to pay ,there was another woman before her so she waited for her turn.
The shopkeeper to the woman : ‘Why are you not buying the blue shawl ?’
W: ‘ I wanted to buy it but I think it’s over, couldn’t find in that section .’
The shopkeeper turning red, raising his voice : ‘ If you could have used your eyes, you would have find it, Allah gave brain to women as well but they dont want to use it. Come I will show where is the shawl, Learn to use your eyes and brain. What do you mean you cant find it, it is there ! See. ‘
The woman heard it disbelievingly. No it can’t be true what he said, she must be day dreaming , he cant treat a customer like that, For a lot of people the response could be a fight , but hers was freeze. She couldn’t utter anything from shock. Meanwhile her eyes met the helper standing next to the shopkeeper , his hand on his mouth , and as soon as his eyes met the woman’s he pleaded her to ignore the guy .
The woman still in shock, paid quickly , thinking there must be a problem with the guy, after all who treats customer like that. The shopkeeper now turning soft, ‘oh are you an Arab ? ‘ The lady shook her head to say no, ‘oh it doesn’t matter ! Here is your change, have a nice day! ‘
The woman didn’t say anything and leaves with a trail of thoughts not willing to leave her mind for a day or so.
To calm herself down, she was constantly explaining herself, he must be a sick guy , there might be a problem with him, while her alter ego was provoking and shaming her for being such a meek and a fool in front of that guy .
‘Why you didn’t throw the stuff on his face and walked off,’
‘Why you didn’t shout at him ! ‘
‘ You know you have just encountered a pathetic misogynist ‘.
The voices in her head, didn’t want to shut . She had indeed been insulted by a misogynist. She really wished and hoped that this guy should learn his lesson one day . Her heart went out to all such women who are living with these men and suffering every day. She has just felt an iota of that hurt and feelings that those women go through every day and sometimes some of them didn’t have a choice to even walk away.
And you can imagine who that stupid woman was that day!
A Day Dreamer's Diary 