One day the other week I took my mother-in-law to her beauty shop. Her weekly hair appointment takes about an hour. I brought a book to read.
The beauty shop is in an old shopping center. The old Shopping center is beginning to show signs of deteriorating. And also, a few stores cater to immigrants.
I was sitting in the car reading my book when a big pickup drove by me in the parking place beside me, then stopped in the row behind me. I watched in my rearview mirror as a young Latino man got out of his truck and went to a small grocery store that caters to people south of the border. Soon, he came out with a Weber-type grill fully assembled, standing on its legs, in a grocery cart.
He and another Latino pushed the cart to the truck. The next few minutes they worked to get the grill into a car sitting next to his truck. Then in a minute two more young Latino men or teenagers materialized. Then one or two more came out. By the way they were laughing, jostling, and carrying on, they all knew each other.
They were all standing around talking in Spanish. One decided to turn his speakers up very loudly. They liked Hip-Hop music.
I felt, with their loud music, they were being obnoxious. I felt threatened.
An old woman came out of the beauty parlor. She was using a walker. She looked happy with herself with her hair. Then she looked up towards the music and saw the bunch of Latino’s. She walked very carefully studying the group as she edged towards her car, not taking her eyes off them.
What was she going to do if she had any trouble? Guard them off with her walker? Lift it up and jab at them? They didn’t pay her any attention. They were enjoying each other.
She got in her car and hurried away.
They kept hanging out talking loud and laughing with the loud music thumping.
Then I thought: They are not hurting anybody. They are just hanging out. I hung out many times with my friends, when I was their age. Hanging out with one’s own is universal.
One of them started doing a mock dance for the others’ amusement twisted or hopped by my car and he saw me. He went back and turned off the car radio. They didn’t know I was there. How could I expect them to be harassing me if I was invisible to them just like I am everybody else?
They still hung out, but being aware of me, they were more subdue.
Apparently I was on-guard for no reason.