Boarding the Train

by Don Durand

It has been my observation that passengers boarding the MAX train, looking for a seat, will usually seek out like for like. Older folks sit with older, younger with younger, Hispanics with Hispanics, white with white, black with black, Asian with Asian. I don’t judge this to be overt racism or ageism, just an unconscious comfort zone decision {to be argued another time}.

So, I was surprised and pleased recently when a black teen took the seat next to me. He draped his skateboard over a leg as he sat down. I nodded and said “hello”. He answered and settled back for the ride. Even this much conversation was unusual, I thought, crossing both age and racial boundaries.

I tentatively started a conversation, of no consequences really. I tired the Blazers first. That got us started.

I tried to use younger vocabulary than I am used to. He helped me be cool. (Hopeless). I admitted I didn’t get “rap” music. He certainly didn’t get opera! And so, we rambled on, getting closer to giving up and ending the conversation.

Then, from somewhere outside myself, I said to him, “do you mind if I ask a somewhat personal question?”

He visibly tightened and mumbled, “What do you want to know?”

I don’t know where this came from but I said, “Have you ever experienced prejudice because of... (He flinched)... “because of skateboarding?” Oh, my!

His eyes lit up, his face gleamed. He became animated. The unspoken thought: “They always ask about race and nothing happens. Nobody even asks about skateboards.”

We exchanged skateboard stories the rest of the trip. He told about adults yelling at him, MAX officers threatening him with tickets and fines and people poking at him with canes.

I told him of a time I was almost knocked down by a boarder who very athletically stopped just in time. I had not seen or heard him, but I am hard of hearing and weak of seeing. He swore at me. I explained and apologized. Then he said he was sorry, too. I wished I was young again and athletic to get a board. The almost accident turned into a god moment.

So was this lively, funny, rewarding conversation for this old white guy and young black dude. His stop was next. We shook hands. He waved from the platform and skated off. The train moved on. All in all, it wasn’t about race or age. Or was it?