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What did I just see?
Sep. 28th, 2004 06:04 pmEDIT: I forgot to add, this may be triggering to some people.
I was dropping some stuff off in my locker about half an hour ago, when I witnessed the most disturbing interaction transpire.
It started as I approached my locker. Standing a few feet from it were a couple; one very large white guy and an Asian woman. This was interesting only because even from a distance away, I could tell they weren't speaking English when they addressed each other. As I got closer, they fell silent in a way that struck me as odd; it was almost a guilty silence, as though they'd been doing something they shouldn't. As I dialed my combination, they quietly picked up their bags and walked past me and away.
They started speaking again. I couldn't tell what language was being used. If they'd both been Asian, I would have assumed an Asian language, but it seemed unlikely for a white guy to know how to speak anything like Japanese or Mandarin. Also, the inflections didn't seem right for that. My next guess was French; French is the language taught to the most advanced degree in Canada, so there was a good chance both would know it.
They walked past me a little ways, then stopped, speaking in low voices. The guy started to reach for the woman's face, and she jerked violently away. He spoke, and she stood very still, looking sullen. In fact, her behaviour reminded me a lot of the way that I've responded to my father in the past when he got angry. She stared off into space.
He reached for her face again, and this time she stood still and let him. He ran his thumb down her cheek, saying something. She continued to stare into the distance, looking as if she'd...well...dissociated.
He reached for her hand, and again, she jerked away violently, flinging her hand off to the side. She spoke, sounding upset and fretful, not to mention protesting.
He said something that sounded as if it were meant to be soothing, and reached to put his arm around her. It would have seemed a very sweet gesture if I hadn't just seen her yank away from him - twice. Then his tone got more stern, even menacing.
He reached for her hand again, and again, she let him. They linked hands and headed for the stairwell.
They stopped in the doorway and continued to talk while he held the door partially open. They talked for several minutes - or rather, he talked and she stood still and stared straight ahead. I watched them covertly, feeling all the while that it was somehow dangerous to let on that they had caught my attention, or that I had noticed anything they'd done. Then they went up the stairs and out of sight.
This whole thing really bothered me, but I don't know what to do about it. I know I'll be keeping an eye out for them, but I have no idea what their relationship is, or what was going on. If they'd just spoken in English...but I'm sort of stuck.
I was dropping some stuff off in my locker about half an hour ago, when I witnessed the most disturbing interaction transpire.
It started as I approached my locker. Standing a few feet from it were a couple; one very large white guy and an Asian woman. This was interesting only because even from a distance away, I could tell they weren't speaking English when they addressed each other. As I got closer, they fell silent in a way that struck me as odd; it was almost a guilty silence, as though they'd been doing something they shouldn't. As I dialed my combination, they quietly picked up their bags and walked past me and away.
They started speaking again. I couldn't tell what language was being used. If they'd both been Asian, I would have assumed an Asian language, but it seemed unlikely for a white guy to know how to speak anything like Japanese or Mandarin. Also, the inflections didn't seem right for that. My next guess was French; French is the language taught to the most advanced degree in Canada, so there was a good chance both would know it.
They walked past me a little ways, then stopped, speaking in low voices. The guy started to reach for the woman's face, and she jerked violently away. He spoke, and she stood very still, looking sullen. In fact, her behaviour reminded me a lot of the way that I've responded to my father in the past when he got angry. She stared off into space.
He reached for her face again, and this time she stood still and let him. He ran his thumb down her cheek, saying something. She continued to stare into the distance, looking as if she'd...well...dissociated.
He reached for her hand, and again, she jerked away violently, flinging her hand off to the side. She spoke, sounding upset and fretful, not to mention protesting.
He said something that sounded as if it were meant to be soothing, and reached to put his arm around her. It would have seemed a very sweet gesture if I hadn't just seen her yank away from him - twice. Then his tone got more stern, even menacing.
He reached for her hand again, and again, she let him. They linked hands and headed for the stairwell.
They stopped in the doorway and continued to talk while he held the door partially open. They talked for several minutes - or rather, he talked and she stood still and stared straight ahead. I watched them covertly, feeling all the while that it was somehow dangerous to let on that they had caught my attention, or that I had noticed anything they'd done. Then they went up the stairs and out of sight.
This whole thing really bothered me, but I don't know what to do about it. I know I'll be keeping an eye out for them, but I have no idea what their relationship is, or what was going on. If they'd just spoken in English...but I'm sort of stuck.
