But... I'm white... and I have a jacket!

[jjimm]

@Claptree

I’m not going to tell you his name, but I can assure you he isn’t that. Very far from it.

Isn’t it Mattias Stenberg?

It’s in his profile.

ETA: googled him up, and I’m guessing the OP is a whoosh.

[Claptree]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

If you just googled “Manchester jacket” the image results are nearly all going to be for Manchester United jackets, which will be nylon and sporty and hooded and not at all respectable.

He means something like this.

Stoneburg made a minor error. In Swedish, manchester is a fabric. Corduroy, in fact. So, he was wearing a brown corduroy jacket. Pretty prim and proper.

ETA: jjimm, you’re right. I didn’t bother looking at his profile, I just didn’t want to de-anonymize a mate.

[furt]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

“But I’m white… and I have a jacket!” is not a neutral statement. In the context, it suggests that he wanted her to sit next to him, or at least expected her to do so, and that being white makes one a more inviting seatmate.

Expected, yes. The rest is yours.

He also used the term “shunning” in the last paragraph, which again suggests he feels… discriminated against?

He could be equally pleased to see what appears to be a display of non-prejudice on the part of the woman.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

“Shunning” hardly denotes a non-prejudiced attitude. It clearly indicates that he feels prejudiced against.

@Claptree

Stoneburg made a minor error. In Swedish, manchester is a fabric. Corduroy, in fact. So, he was wearing a brown corduroy jacket. Pretty prim and proper.

I know. See link.

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

@Stoneburg

This time I wore a brown manchester jacket and a striped shirt that is quite nice. I’m white, with a shaved head and a neatly trimmed beard.

The OP does not mention if he was wearing pants. Since the rest of his description was so detailed, I think we can assume the worst.

[Bosstone]

@furt

He could be equally pleased to see what appears to be a display of non-prejudice on the part of the woman.

That’s what I got out of it. You hear about that kind of thing a lot; refusal to share an elevator with a minority, holding one’s purse tighter while walking by, not sharing a bench, etc. The OP was amazed that the woman defied his expectations of prejudice. That’s all.

ETA:

@Tapioca Dextrin

The OP does not mention if he was wearing pants. Since the rest of his description was so detailed, I think we can assume the worst.

I think we have a winner.

[Jack_Batty]

I’m not sure I get it.

If I entered a tram car and there were two strangers sitting in two different spots … I’d pick a third spot to sit too.

What am I missing?

[MsWhatsit]

I think y’all been whooshed.

[salinqmind]

@kittenblue

Maybe it was an age thing…how old are you?

If we are going to be honest here, I’ve had the same feelings many times, on buses, on planes…especially on the shuttle bus I ride. People will squish in in tighter spaces or look at the two seats on either side on me and decide to stand. I showered! I’m neatly dressed! And then when they stand, anyone getting on later can’t see the back of the shuttle or just assumes there are no seats, so they stand too…which leads to a huge number (okay, maybe 6) people standing squished in the front of the shuttle while I sit there in the back, empty seats all around me, like a pariah.

Or the time a mother putting her young son on the plane to travel alone took one look at me, my infant on my lap covered by a blanket while she nursed (you really couldn’t tell if she was nursing or asleep) and hustled her precious snowflake into another seat by a man. The little boy read the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated for the whole flight. But sitting next to a young mom and baby was too scary…

Maybe her kid is rambunctious and loud and she didn’t want HIM to bother you and the baby. And if he started kicking the back of the seat in front of him like 99.9% of young boys do, maybe she figured a stern word from the man would nip that in the bud faster than another mom nagging at him!

[mhendo]

@MsWhatsit

I think y’all been whooshed.

Yeah, the first thing i thought upon reading the OP was that the xenophobic language was tongue-in-cheek. I could be wrong, but i’m sticking to that for the moment.

[jjimm]

@Tapioca_Dextrin

The OP does not mention if he was wearing pants. Since the rest of his description was so detailed, I think we can assume the worst.

No pants, but with a gigantic erection? No shirt? A decapitated head in a bag at his feet? Had he just farted? Or did the Arabic-looking guy look like a young Omar Sharif?

Or was, in fact, the tram crowded - he never mentioned any other passengers, but maybe they were there?

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@jjimm

ETA: googled him up, and I’m guessing the OP is a whoosh.

Yep.

What the heck is “Nämndeman i tingsrätten”, by the way?

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

“Juror in the district court”

[Olentzero]

Well, I admit - I got whooshed but good. Still, someone purportedly on the left ought to fucking know better that this.

[Gangster_Octopus]

This was a test and you all failed…

The correct response was 42.

[Olentzero]

Only in base 13.

[Freudian_Slit]

What did you guys google?

[Anaamika]

I’d sit next to a young Omar Sharif.

[jjimm]

@Freudian_Slit

What did you guys google?

Him.

[Freudian_Slit]

I googled his name–how can you tell that the OP is a whoosh from that?