Swearing to Learn

So...I am learning to swear...in Dutch.

I got picked on by a group of twelve year olds today on the tram. No, this was not a dream and I am not joking. I was jeered, poked, and not so casually pushed by a group of five twelve year olds today on my way home from work...at six o'clock surrounded by a tram full of other adults.

I boarded the tram at the central train station and sat a row behind an Indian woman about my age. She noticed a male friend on the platform and, as the doors to the tram were shutting, she yelled to him something like, "I will send you an e-mail" or "Check your e-mail".

Once the doors shut and the tram was moving, a high pitched playback of the woman's words began repeating over and over accompanied by laughter from behind me. The sound persisted and I don't know what got in to me, but I turned around and stared down each of the five sets of eyes I found behind me, the source of the screeching and laughing. I managed to hide my surprise at their age. I had expected them to be teenagers and rough looking. They were quite the opposite - short, probably twelve, and rather well dressed.

The screeching didn't stop. I felt someone start to tap, rather jab me with a finger, on the back of my shoulder. After two or three times, I turned around and stared down the cute, terrified boy and said in my angriest voice, "Stop it. Stop it now." I couldn't remember the basic phrase in Dutch or any other words for that matter at the moment. I was so enraged to be touched and to be so disrespected. Before I could get the words out, he was pleading that it wasn't him. So I flashed a narrowed looked at all of them before turning around again.

The next stop was approaching so they began to get up and were now pushing my shoulder with an entire hand. One boy, now standing next to me, pointed at my shoes and gave a thumbs up with a face completely devoid of a smile. I was, of course, wearing my grandma MBT shoes. I had never seen such skillful sarcasm in an adolescent nor in most adults. I had my ipod headphones on so I am guessing they thought I was trying not to hear them, but I heard every word. With a blatantly obvious rub by one of the boy's bags and arm across my shoulder and arm, they exited the tram.

I got off at the next stop and tried to brush the whole thing off on my short walk home. My first thought was, "I need to find out how to say 'I know your parents are worthless, but the least you could do is shut up and sit down while in public.'"

I went home and explained what happened to my husband and he basically concluded that, while I don't need to be afraid in these situations, I shouldn't say anything until I can stand my ground in Dutch. So...I am learning to swear...in Dutch. Instead of exchanging pleasantries in Dutch, now my husband and I exchange swear words so I can practice.