| A Vancouver dispatch
(excerpted) One day in early March at the Multnomah Co. library downtown I was waiting in the queue for one of the internet terminals. A young, light-skinned black man walked over to look at the computer which shows the number of people in line, and their expected wait times. After looking at that screen briefly, the man walked into the north wing of the second floor. After a few minutes, my reservation was ready, so I also walked into the north wing of the second floor. I soon discovered that the young man was sitting at my reserved computer. Rather than confront the man right away, I pulled up a chair behind him, at one of the tables. In part, this maneuver was just to reflect upon the moment, before deciding how best to engage the young man. (I'll try to explain this a little more later). Maybe I thought he would quickly realize his mistake and head back to the resistration area. But after only about 5-10 seconds, I decided to stand up again and talk to the man. In that 5-10 seconds, I noticed that the computer user to the right of the man was checking out some close-up shots of naked women. (Not so much their faces or legs either). I told the man that I had reserved the computer. He asked me if I had been there before, and I wasn't sure if he meant at that computer, or at the library. I tried to dodge the question, and told him about the reservation area out in the lobby. So he collected his bag and retreated to the table behind us, further getting his stuff together. He was a big guy, in good shape, and seemed slightly effeminate. Before I sat down, I noticed he had left his library card stuck in between the keys of the keyboard. This seems to have been the crux of the matter--do I simply grab the card and hand it over to him? This seems like a non-issue, and in normal circumstances it surely would be. But from the start, I questioned the authenticity of this scenario. I didn't want to grab the card. At that point, I didn't fully understand why, but I felt that in grabbing the card, I would be fulfilling some unwanted role in the unfolding scenario. So I turned to the man and asked if it was his card. He hadn't gone anywhere quickly, making retrieval of his card easier. He got his card and left. After sitting down, I tried to make eye contact with a young woman across from me. Shortly after that, she got up and left, and she seemed upset about something. Later, I realized how several factors may have led me not to pick up the man's library card, and then I compared this scenario with one from the previous day. In the few seconds before I contronted the man, I had glimpsed the close-up porn shots of the computer next to him. My mind had to form a response to this just at the moment when I approached the man at my computer terminal. Then, the young man's slightly effeminate manner contributed to the sexuality theme. These factors may actually have affected my decision not to pick up the card. The entire scene took place in about 30 seconds. But I think my feeling is that this scenario was somewhat staged was the main factor. The day before this, in Vancouver, a solicitor came up to me at the 7th St. Transit Center. He was a middle-aged white man. I wasn't really interested in his solicitation, which was an offer for a cheap medical/dental plan. (Big coincidence--the day before that I had some dental issues). I listened to his spiel for several minutes though, and then accepted his business card. So after the library episode, I was forced to consider why I accepted the business card from the white solicitor, but wouldn't pick up the library card of the light-skinned black man. On the surface, this would seem to be a valid question, one with some redeeming social value. However, I also had to consider the degree to which both episodes were staged, and let that be the main influence of my conclusions. |