"... So what you're saying is, the government should enforce these everyday comforts for each of their citizens?"
"No-"
"So just the minorities then?"
"I didn't say that either. Stop putting words in my mouth. What I said was, the government is responsible for upholding these 'comforts' as you put it, in everyday situations for it's citizens, whoever they may be. Basic rights such as these should be made available to all who should have them. This should be one of the most important, if not the most important function of government."
"This micro-management of civic amenities?"
"No, to oversee the execution of its legislature. The very functioning of Government is built around the idea of making laws and ordinances and executing and enforcing them rightfully, and if giving Democracy the respect it deserves, is too much to ask of you, sir, then-"
"Now now, let's not drag the good name of democracy into the mud just yet. You went off on the justification and legality of the matter when my point was simply questioning whether the government has the right, no the very gall to govern such minutiae in the lives of its citizens. Are they not capable of simple actions such as this? Are they truly so handicapped that they need this constant coddling, the full might of the government behind them to 'stake their claim', so to speak?"
"Of course not! This is not 'coddling', just enforcement of the laws of the land - And I can see where you're going to go with this, so let me just get it out of the way first by saying that this reservation of seats and me supporting it is in no way implying inferiority to others. It is merely an attempt to 'level the playing field' for those of us who have been denied opportunities more readily and unfairly available to others. Don't forget that our society discriminates on the most superficial of distinctions."
"It's not our society that makes us discriminate, it is our humanity. It is not possible to truly know someone the instant you meet them, so you judge them on the aspects that you can see. It is a perfectly natural act and there is nothing wrong with this. It might not be fair, but that's just the way things go in real life. And if your response to discrimination is further discrimination, then that really binds your case in a neat little circular-"
"No no, not further discrimination, leveling, bringing to par with a position that should rightfully be ours-"
"'Rightfully be yours'? How? By the nature of your birth? By your last name? By the color of your skin?"
"-by the fact that these basic rights have been denied to us because of those very reasons! You can twist words and pontificate all you want, but that won't change the way we have suffered all this time, the bigotry we have faced, the number of times we have been sidelined, pushed aside like so many trivial things, does this not call for some reparation? Where is our respite? Where is our revolution? Where is our Gandhi?!"
"All right! You can have your damned seat! My stop is here anyway."
As the Man made his way out the bus it is possible he might have said the word 'Bitch', and the Woman who sat down in the seat he just left might have said the word 'Homo'. It is possible, but I can't be sure.
The End
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