Cracker

Early this morning on the bus from Rancho San Diego into El Cajon, there were three passengers, a man and two women, all sitting up near the front by the driver, engaged in a spirited conversation.

From my seat at the very back, I couldn't make out what they were saying, however based upon what happened later I surmised they were discussing convicted sex offender Leonard Earl Scroggins, who was recently captured in National City.

It bears mentioning that all three of the passengers would easily qualify as "Caucasian", and the bus driver herself was a white woman.

After several minutes of the conversation, which I wasn't paying attention too, suddenly the loud voice of the driver was clearly heard, as she interjected her own strong opinion.

"It's how they're raised," she said, waving her finger back and forth in admonishment, "it has nothing to do with the color of their skin."

The male passenger continued talking, and I think I heard him say "Yeah, it's how they're raised, and..."

The bus driver lady cut him off and waved her finger more emphatically at him in her mirror.

"It has nothing to with the color of their skin," she repeated.  "Look at John Gardner.  He's white!"

The guy responded with something that I just couldn't make out, but the driver was not satisfied.  As she pulled up to the next stop, she continued:

"It has NOTHING to do with the color of their skin.  It's how they're raised!  I have three mixed boys and they'd never do anything like that, I'll guarantee you.  It has nothing to do with the color of their skin!"

A black passenger got on, a man, and walked through the ongoing conversation seemingly oblivious to the subject.  He sat in the middle of the bus.  The next passenger to board was Hispanic, and he sat down in the front.  He was listening, and evidently got the gist of what was going on.

The white male responded to the bus driver by saying, "It's how their raised, yes, it's how their raised," in sort of an acquiescent acknowledgement of the driver's strong words.  As he spoke, the Hispanic man was looking at him.

"You're a racist?", he said, with sort of a chuckle as if it was hard to believe that racists still existed in Southern California.

The white man simply repeated the words of surrender, "It's how they're raised", and looked out the window, hoping the conversation would end.

Which it did.