A 35-year-old woman wrote to our editorial asking us to judge her in a scandalous situation. Her letter was emotional, showing that the conflict affected her. In a bus, the woman described a situation that everyone can face, so she wants our readers’ opinions and asks what we’d do.
A woman began by recounting a three-month-old pity encounter. She said she still can’t get over it because it hurt her and left a big impression.
She began her letter with background to clarify her situation. She reported having stage 2 nasal cancer 10 months ago. A large tumor hasn’t spread, thankfully.
She says that even non-cancer patients could understand that she had a poor mental state due to constant worrying and a poor physical state at the time. She revealed that she had to undergo aggressive chemotherapy to shrink her tumor before having it removed.
She continues her letter by saying her health and appearance changed. She developed severe alopecia after chemo. This condition caused most of her hair loss. Even her eyebrows and eyelashes were gone.
She said she had to shave her head bald after the major hair loss, which looked bad. She wore a wig to avoid looking like a skinhead. She was worried that people would compare her to a subculture because she’s tall and muscular.
A conflict occurred on the woman’s bus ride to chemo.
The woman recounts returning home after a long chemo session. She added that there was only one bus from the hospital to her home, which was packed.
She requested a seat from a middle-aged man because she felt awful after chemo. The man was kind and stood up to offer her his spot without complaint. A woman got on the bus one stop later. Her companion was a teen.
She writes, “It took her nearly 5 seconds to see that the bus was fully packed and start looking for a free seat. She quickly saw me and marched toward me.”
The woman said she had a gut feeling something was going to happen after seeing how carefully the other woman was approaching her and her facial expression. She wrote, “When I saw that woman, I knew I was screwed. She stood next to me and chatted. The conversation was heated.”
A mother with a teenage son said, “Hey, my son needs to sit down.” The woman told the mom she needed a seat because she was sick and on her way home from the hospital. Another woman interrupted her, saying her child had broken his leg and they were coming from the ER. The woman said her son was standing next to her and could do it alone.
She told the mom he looked fine, but she got an angry response. She called her “a boy” and said her child should sit. The mom yelled at the woman when she tried to reassure her that she was after the chemo and even removed her wig to show her bald head.
She called her a “skinhead” and demanded she leave her seat. The woman said she was broken, appalled, and ashamed of the incident.
After the mom’s aggression, the woman was speechless, but both women had the bus’s attention. The woman wrote that her mother tried to pull her from her seat. Her grip was tight, so she didn’t fall.
After giving the woman the seat, the elderly man joined her. He advised the mother to stop assaulting others. The mom shouted at him, and her child looked at her, clearly ashamed of her behavior.
After the woman continued to be aggressive, the elderly man gave her a karma speech. He said she assaulted a passenger and him, an officer. He then showed his badge and told her to stay. The man called someone to tell the woman she was arrested.
The woman says, “Our bus had just stopped, so she decided to run away, but other people blocked her way and a police car was waiting for her two stops later. Her son apologized for his mother’s behavior, and I felt sorry for him.”
Thank you to the woman for writing and sharing her story. We hope she beats cancer and never has such conflicts again.
We honestly think people should respect each other and remember their dignity.
The woman who assaulted the cancer patient should have been arrested. Her kid was watching the drama and stressed, so the situation hurt many people.