As soon as I got into the office Tuesday morning my coworker hit me with a what would you do scenario regarding an incident she had coming up to our floor that day.
I’m in the elevator listening to Future in my headphones and two white ladies follow me inside the elevator, she tells me. I’m standing there minding my business when I see the older white woman turn to me and mouth something. I take one earbud out of my ear and ask her what she said, and she looks at me with a straight face and says “You’re noisy!” I shrugged my shoulders, put my headphones back in and went back to minding my business. But a second later I saw the woman turn to the younger white woman in the elevator, explaining something to the effect of “sometimes people don’t realize how loud their music is. They think they’re the only ones listening to it, but it’s everyone. Everyone can hear it.”
Apparently the younger woman never turned to the older one to acknowledge what she was saying and the women got off the elevator before my coworker reached our floor, still replaying what had just happened and analyzing her response in her head. Not one who’s known for clapbacks, my coworker kept saying “I should’ve said something back to her,” though I assured her sometimes silence and a refusal to engage with someone attempting to police you is the best mode of action. Reminding her of the likelihood the other woman would’ve quickly turned into the victim and her the “aggressor” had she said anything outside of “OK,” I told her she did the right thing.
Another coworker suggested when the woman told her she was noisy, she should’ve retorted with “And you’re bold.” I liked that approach, suggesting she could’ve also used the world– “entitled” — given the details provided. Still, I feel she handled the situation in the best way possible, even though she’s still mulling over the fact that she didn’t say anything back to the woman three days later. So I told her I’d reach out to the masses and see if they agree with her response or would’ve done anything different.
So what would you have done in this scenario? Would you have checked the lady or gone on about your business?
The post WWYD? You’re In An Elevator Listening To Music And A Woman Looks At You And Says “You’re Noisy” appeared first on MadameNoire.