Thumbnail is a woman, which makes the story a bit clearer.

I'm a big lumberjack-type guy, nobody bothers or interrupts me, even when I'm making a bad mistake and they should.

If you're confident you did nothing to deserve that anger, why worry about some stranger having a bad day? Even more so: why let that ruin your evening?

I know plenty people who don't like me and that's fine. At least, I'm fine with it.

I don't think I've ever been on a city bus that didn't have people just standing, and while thanking the driver is nice and I'll do it if I exit the front leaving from the middle is always an option.

I'd personally just assume they were having a bad day and move on, but yeah, getting fussed at for no reason is annoying.

Just like you the thoughts would bounce around in my head for the rest of the evening.

He was probably just having a bad day.

If you want distraction from the thoughts bouncing for a while I'd love to hear about a pleasant interaction you've had with a stranger. I talked to a lady the other day and we shared stories of what furniture our puppies had eaten. Feel free to elaborate as much as you like.

People are assholes, and once the lid pops it is difficult to put it back on. What you did could have been the metaphorical straw that broke the camel's back.

Don't take these people seriously unless you feel that you have wronged them. They are dealing with their own shit, and you shouldn't let them drag you into it. Apologize and move on. Anything they say after that is their poor attempt to cope with the situation.

i presume he's picking on you because you're a young woman and he sees them as "easy targets" to release anger upon. Honestly happens to me a bit too, some people get annoyed or jealous when they see younger people.

Next time, tell them to eat a turd.

I have massive anxiety problems so stuff like this sends me into a pretty lengthy panic attack that will only grow worse as my brain piles on everything else I've done wrong lately.

Ignore him and keep doing your thing.

When he says drivers should be thanked you reply "only the decent ones"

Don't let someone like that ruin your evening. They're only putting anger and fear out there in the world. If you refuse to accept their anger as legitimate, which it sounds like it isn't, then giving them and you grace and compassion is an easy way to convert anger into nothing and not ruin your day.

Haha, that driver wouldn't have liked me.

I would have told the driver to go fuck himself. I always wear headphones while on a bus so I wouldn't have heard the driver anyway.

No, because I have the unfair advantage of being a middle-aged white guy, so nobody does it. Also I'm a post-COVID paranoid shut-in, but before that it never happened.

Posted on another thread...