so, today i went to hang out with rob at the hospital, who is currently being held hostage on the 6th floor (with the rest of the cancer captives). so, upon entering the hospital, i stepped into an elevator and found myself alone in the car (is the elevator thing called a car??). just before the door closed, a woman stepped from around the corner into the threshhold of the car. i saw that this woman, who appeared to be an employee of the hospital, was a muslim, evident by the burkha she was wearing (you know, the head wrap and cloak that covers muslim women…). just as she was preparing to enter, she looked at me and saw that i was the only person in the elevator. assumedly due to the fact that i was an unaccompanied male, she backed out of the elevator.

it was clear that because of her moral and religious convictions, this woman didn’t feel comfortable being with a man alone in an elevator. so, she faded around the corner and the door slowly began to close. just a second before the door completely shut, i saw a small hand reach to grab the door and push it back open.

as the door re-opened, the same muslim woman reappeared, exclaiming, “screw it. i’m in a hurry!”

holding back my intense desire to laugh out loud, she entered, the door shut and we rode up silently—opposite each other in the car—to our eventual floor of destination.

let’s recap:

1. muslim woman in traditional islamic covering

2. who says “screw it”

3. and sacrifices her religious convictions for the sake of punctuality.

classic.