#IStand4Hijab
#WorldHijabDay

Yes, I blogged this mostly on FB, but I’m going into more detail here.

One thing I want and need to share is What to do if someone is harassed or attacked for their religious beliefs / garb

Hopefully I won’t experience anything like that today, but, it’s still a good thing for everyone to know what to do.

I took my son to school. It was still dark then.
I told him as we were driving…
“If I die today, you must become an activist and stop the hate and the fear.”
I made him pinky swear.

“Mom, I don’t think it works that way”
“Well, let’s hope not, but just in case.. glad to know you’ll be doing something about it. ”
“You’re only going to work, though, right?”
“Yes, but I’m also going to the library and to Walmart plus I’ll need to get lunch. Love you!”
“Love you too, Mom.”

*wry grin*
Then, when he forgot something in the car, I had to HONK to make him come back for it. (He has Robotics presentation at a middle school this afternoon). That probably was the only opportunity that anyone had to maybe have seen me, but T-High is a very diverse school. Likely no one even thought twice.

Went back home, got my stuff, said bye bye to my hubby as he left for work, checked to see if any hair was showing. (I think I’m gonna be tucking all day.. I tried hairspray. I HATE HAIRSPRAY!!) Took a selfie (the pix to the right).
Then I headed to work too.

I didn’t really notice anything. I also didn’t try to look either.
There was a horrible accident around Gage and Shunga. Serious munch with at least 6 vehicles stopped. My lane was going around, but police and ambulances hadn’t even showed up yet. It was such a mess.

Got to work, pulled into my parking spot (yes.. my own.. but it’s a fundraiser in the fall.. I paid good money for the honor of parking close to the building!!) and went inside. No comments. “Stole” a donut from one of the warehouse guys. He just laughed at me.

Took another selfie at my desk.. mostly to make sure everything looked good before heading to the break room for tea.

Smiles and good mornings as usual. One person saw me from behind and thought “Hey, who’s the new girl” but then saw it was me and was like “Oh, it’s just Kris”.
*grin*
(That’s me.. except when I’m “KB” .. that’s me too… LOL)

Back at my desk, my co-worker came in and we talked about it briefly (I had warned them the day before.. and ‘sides.. I’m KB.. they’re used to my eccentricness)

About mid morning, had one co-worker from the marketing department stop by my desk and just look at me. LOL I said “World Hijab Day” and he said “cool” LOL I said “It’s all over Facebook dude” and he was like “I haven’t been on yet!! LOL”

Lunchtime rolled around and I had some errands to run.
I started at Walmart where I had an online order to pick up. Of course, I have to go all the way to the back of the store to do that… This being my truly first time in “public” I was quite nervous. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I usually make eye contact with everyone as I pass by, but this time, I found myself not comfortable doing that… well, at least until I reached the pickup area. The gentleman behind the register was exceptionally polite (and kinda cute) and very helpful. I had called prior to see if I could do the new drive-thru thing, but that’s not an option for online orders. He remembered me from the call and helped me with my boxes full of boxes (tubs). He even carted them out to my car and loaded them in for me. What a wonderful young man.

My low-tire light had come on, so I needed to get air. Does anyone realize how difficult it is to find places to get air for tires anymore? And even more rare that it’s free!! I ended up on 6th Street Quick Shop. Again, no problems. I did get an odd look or two.. and one guy came over to the machine for some reason, but no one said anything to me. The wind was trying to blow me and my hijab away tho. A few strands of hair got loose!! (Did I mention I’d even used hairspray.. I hate hairspray…)

Next was Dillons for some lunch. Yummy salad plus picked up some odds and ends snacky stuff that I was low on. I discovered that eating with a hijab on is a bit difficult. I was very worried that I had spilled some salad dressing on myself, but I can’t see any… I might find a spot later… Hope not!!

By this time, everything was starting to slip.. off my head, down my shoulder.. you name it. Arggghhh! It was time to go home and FIX it!!

But first.. a trip to Walgreens.. again, no problems. I bought an ice scraper. The guy at the register wanted to know if I knew something he didn’t.. LOL No.. but I’m hoping for snow, although the scraper would probably scare any and all chances of snow away. He laughed. (maybe, just maybe.. if no one is going to yell at me.. and if people are actually reading this far.. maybe I did step into my neighborhood liquor store.. and if I did, say, step in.. I will say that people in that store were exceptionally nice. Now.. if this is going to get me yelled at, I did not, under any circumstances, step into a liquor store on purpose. I WILL say that I now know that Muslims do not drink…. I did not know that before.. so.. take this educational experience with a grain of salt and don’t yell at the newbie / solidarity experience woman for a faux pas and let it pass on into oblivion and into an alternate reality. #Alternative Fact )

Quick stop at the house, to unload all the boxes and goodies, and an attempt to fix my hijab, then I went to the library. I had to pick up a book for myself (I LOVE Interlibrary Loans.. they are so easy now..) and a movie for my son.. The Right Stuff.. he’s supposed to compare it with historical happenings or something for his AP US History class (which I might brag that he’s getting concurrent college credits for taking). The wind blew me askew again, but I think I was able to mostly fix it… As I walked in, nothing happened, but as I was walking to the area where they keep books and stuff that you’ve placed on hold, this guy STARED at me.. I mean stared at me hard. I nodded but he just glared. He didn’t say anything.. but I know he was not thinking nice stuff.. I could feel the negative vibes pouring off him. After I picked up the movie, I had to walk past him again. I chose to ignore him this time. Don’t judge me. I was just a teeny tiny bit scared. Then I went to the Customer Service desk to pick up my InterLibrary Loan. They were quite polite and helpful. Next I had to pay for my ILL at the kiosk. Oh man, I hate those things. For someone who is a self-proclaimed technological connoisseur, those machines HATE ME. A really REALLY nice lady helped me.. and I made it thru. THEN I started to leave.. and ALARMS WENT OFF! OMG! Apparently the Right Stuff hadn’t been checked out correctly. I was flustered and so embarrassed. I just wanted to melt into the marble floors and disappear. But the same nice lady helped me (GODDESS I HOPE SHE DIDN’T THINK I WAS TRYING TO STEAL THAT MOVIE!!!) and we got everything corrected and I left.. again.. tail between my legs, but my hijab still sitting proudly with (most of) my hair covered!

*whew*

I was thirsty by then.. I mean, seriously, the wind was tearing through me, humidity levels are low and dry and miserable. So I went through Micky Dee’s drive thru. Here in Topeka, most of our drive thru folks are, in fact, Mexican. Legal or not, I don’t care. They are usually really friendly, but today, with my hijab on, they were even more friendly. What does that mean?
Something to speculate upon at another time…

Then, it was back to work!

Interestingly enough, I only had one person extremely curious and perhaps mildly confused or even disapproving. I didn’t have a chance to explore that because I was talking with another co-worker about important stuff (Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi leaving as the Doctor, Sherlock, Agents of SHIELD, Killjoys and Dark Matter.) What can I say? Priorities….

You can certainly tell the folks who aren’t on Facebook.. or who aren’t FB friends with me. I mean, seriously, I’ve been talking about this for over a week, practiced putting on my hijab for 2 days, took pix, asked for help and wrote statuses. *shrug* Silly people.

As usual.. I received a message from my son about 10 minutes before the work day was over.. “Cheesestix plz”
*sigh*

Okay!! but only because I want to go one more place wearing my hijab!!

I went to Pizza Hut to pick up the cheese sticks. The guy who works there knows me.. sort of. I get cheese sticks fairly often.. He didn’t even blink an eye. He spoke as he always does. Says hello, rings me up, get my cheese sticks and tells me to have a Blessed Day. I really like that young man.. (he’s pretty damn cute too.. LOL… so very young tho)

Since I was that close, I decided to top off my day by stopping by the Rainbow House and the Transgender House for my final selfie. I had to adjust my hijab a bit… and snapped a coupla shots till I got both houses fairly well in the frame and I was done. Yay!!

What a great day!! Exhausting.. but I’m content. What a great experience.

A couple of really good questions from the day:
“Is it warm?”
No.. but I wouldn’t be able to wear it in the summer. I don’t do heat well anyway and covering my head when I’m already overheating would make me ill.
“Why purple?”
It’s my favorite color.
“Why?”
Solidarity and I’ve been wanting to experience this since I created the FB page, https://www.facebook.com/FabHijabFad, five years ago this month.

Blessed Be!
*huggles*