We want to voice our grievances; we want to be heard. This is our platform to stand united against all odds.

It was the school holidays and my daughter and I decided to take the Inner Link bus from New Market.
We waved down the next bus and stepped inside to swipe the AT HOP card. We have two cards: one for me and one for my eight-year-old. There were quite a few passengers boarding the bus before and after us. But, the driver stretched his hand out and stopped me at the touchscreen where you ‘tag on’ the card, saying: “That’s a school-going child. You need to pay for her.”

I replied: “Yes, of course. That’s why I have two HOP cards.”

The driver said: “Swipe both of your cards.”

I replied: “I just did.”

He got off his seat, took both the cards from me and swiped them again. By doing so, he tagged us off. So I asked: “Does this mean I don’t tag off when we get off the bus?” He replied: “Yes.”

We found our seats and sat down, but I simply couldn’t understand why the driver had to stop me and behaved the way he did. With other passengers, he didn’t bother much. The more I thought about it, the angrier I felt.

Once we reached our destination, I walked up to the driver and couldn’t help but ask: “Why did you behave that way with me? Did you not trust me when I said I had swiped both the HOP cards?”
He wasn’t expecting me to raise such a question and so mumbled in response: “I asked you to swipe again and you didn’t.”

That was it. I just lost it and blurted out: “Would you have done the same to another mum and child if they looked different than us, i.e. looked like local Kiwi people?”

I was trying to keep it politically correct, but it was enough to get an agitated reaction from the now-unnerved driver. I ignored his response and got off the bus with my daughter in tow, adding: “All I want to say is that your behaviour was quite rude.”

I didn’t look back to see how the co-passengers behaved or what they said after us. Questioning the driver and voicing what was evidently humiliating, gave me enough satisfaction. It also helped me explain my action to my daughter and instil in her the importance to talk-back against injustice, albeit keeping your dignity intact.