Sunday, May 15, 2011

Approaching a hijabi - Keep it in line.

I have been meaning to post for sooooo long, but what with finals and then computer problems, and then the lethargic state that is a huge symptom of the summer blues, I just haven't gotten to it until now.

While I have a number of things swimming through my head to post about, I'm going to choose the one that has been on my mind the longest. To you I'll state it as a question: How do you expect men to act with hijabis?

What brought this question to mind in the first place: (I always try to keep the story short but it never turns out that way does it? So, no promises this time!)

This semester I usually got to the building of one of my classes 5-10 minutes early. During that time I would hop on the computer in the study room and take care of e-mails, a syllabus scan, and of course a facebook scan (who could resist?). Usually I was alone for those few minutes, and I liked it that way.
However, one of the days one of our essays was due a fellow classmate, we'll call him T, was on one of the computers getting his final paragraphs in.
He started talking to me, and he was friendly enough so no big deal right?
He asked me what I thought about arranged marriages, which is common question for me.
Then he asked about what I ate, which is also a common question for me from those who are familiar with Islamic dietary rules.
T said, we should grab lunch or dinner sometime. Sometime. Considering I live on a college campus, this is also fairly normal. Everyone gets to know each other over food. I thought it was a bit odd that he mentioned some off campus place, but I reasoned 'maybe he doesn't like dining hall food.' So I didn't think much of it and gave the general 'sure.'
When we got out of class he asked if I had a facebook and added me - seemed normal enough to me. And then he sent me a message with his number saying to contact him. All of this seems normal right? Or am I just stupidly naive?

Anyhow, so I texted him back a 'this is Sobia' in equal exchange. From our texting I realized that when he said lunch or dinner sometime, he meant dinner tonight. I didn't feel comfortable meeting right away, and besides it was a weekday! I had procrastinating to do.
So I declined. He asked then when? I told T I was busy until two days after at least. He replied: 'Aww, youre going to keep me starving until Thursday!'
Me:....I'm not stopping you from eating..
And then I told him, besides my roommate isn't free until thursday either, and I dont go anywhere without her. (Cuz friendly dinner or not, there is no way in hell I would ever meet with a guy, whether I know him well or not, alone. Ridiculous!)
Anyhow, he replies: Aight. I was gonna pay for you, but I ain't gonna pay for her. LOL.
Me:...uh, you're not paying for me either.
T: yeah i am.
Me: No youre not. People dont pay for each other on friendly lunches.
T: Naw I got you.
Me: ...We'll see.
T: Yes we will! lol
This is what initially gave me a bit of a weird feeling. But then I thought maybe I'm over reacting, i'm just not used to excessively friendly people. I'm used to people approaching me with caution (and I prefer it that way, if I may add).
Anyhow, I stopped replying after that, but he kept texting! Random things. We weren't having a conversation. He was saying silly things and I mostly replied with 'haha' and 'ok' (i thought those were universal text signs that the conversation is over. Stop texting!) He finally did stop when I told him I'm gonna crash. It was 5pm. But at this point I was sufficiently uneasy. I do not like overly friendly behavior from men, especially when we just started talking. But again, I thought I was just being defensive so I put everything to the back of my mind.

T texted me 'Good Morning..' at 8:25am. If I wasn't creeped out before, I sure was now. I mean, I don't even get good morning texts from my mother!
So around noon I decided to text him and say : I cant make it Thursday, something came up.
T responded with something like you suck, or forget you, or blahhhhh - i forget which. And he said to get back to him whenever I was free. I said 'Alrighty' and didn't text him again.
A week went by with no problem. The next week though I got freaked.

So even after my 10 minute session in the study room, I came into class to find only one other person there (usually there are at least 3 or 4 from the previous class). We'll call this student S. S and I sit one chair apart, and for a minute it was just the two of us in class. Then T walks in with his booming voice "hello, my beautiful classmates!'
I reply 'hey.' S replies: 'Hey, how are you?'
T: 'good. good. If i was doing any better I'd be on top of the moon' (something like that)
After a couple of minutes of silence T: So Sobia...
Me: yes?
but he doesn't reply and S and I exchange awkward glances before we get back to our business.
T: I was really looking forward to Thursday. You left me hanging.
I refused to look up but replied: I couldn't help that.
T: Oh I think you could. I was very disappointed.
Me: Sorry but my schedule isn't up to me.
T gets up and moves to the seat between S and I saying 'I like this chair. I think Imma sit here today.'
I didn't reply. He pulls out his phone and shows me the texts we had exchanged.
T: 'See that? That was a week ago.
Me: Yeah and I'm still not free. I told you, my schedule isn't up to me.
By this time 2 other students have entered the classroom. One of them, J, sits right across from me and we exchanged our usual smiles and hellos.
If we're still waiting for the class to start I usually pull out my notebook and work on a henna design, which I had been doing the entire time this conversation played out.
T: What's that your working on?
Me: It's a henna design.
T: It's on a hand.
Me: mhm.
T: It seems like a floral design.
Me: it usually is.
T: what did you say it was?
Me: a henna design.
T: cool.. cool... aight. imma go.
Me: ok
T as he's getting up: falsifier....storyteller...
And he finally went back to his seat. J and S and I exchanged awkward glances, S and J seemed slightly concerned but I didn't say anything because I was just relieved that T was away from me.
When class ended I made sure he and I didn't leave at the same time, and when I saw that he was busy with someone else I bolted out.
Thankfully after that there has been no communication between us.

I was sufficiently creeped by all of it. As I stated before, I am not used to men approaching me in such a straightforward manner, and I'd prefer to keep it that way.
As a hijabi I like the fact that men in general show a form of restraint and modesty around me. My guy friends tend to not crack dirty jokes around me. Even though I curse like sailor (sometimes...not often....anymore...) I still get apologies from them when they let slip an exceptionally crude word. Of course there's never any touching of any sort. I choose my close guy friends carefully, and around the few I have I feel very safe and protected. Around everyone else, I'm usually on guard and the men around me always have a sort of restraint they maintain - physically, verbally, and mentally and emotionally (I hope).
So I don't appreciate guys being overly friendly with me, even if their intention are completely clean. It's just a matter of manners and appropriateness with me. And I felt like T crossed that invisible line, which made me feel very uneasy.

Now that you've read my little story, you tell me. Am I over thinking this? Or would you also feel kind of creeped if you were in my position?
And how do you think guys should, or should not approach hijabis? (by approach I mean in any terms - in friendly terms, or romantic terms, or whatever other terms you're thinking of that I probably left out).

On a positive note: T and i have not spoken since, and summer is here to give our brains a bit of a break from all those textbooks! =)