Today I played the "Scary upperclassman" card on the bus. Usually I sit there, open up a book, put in my earphones, and ignore the fact that I still can't drive. But today, I had to intervene.
I saw the oppurtunity about to arise. Two sophomores were picking on a freshman a few seats ahead of my own... They had taken a bag of chips from the Freshman and were dangling it out the window, just out of his reach. They were mocking him with stereotypes based on his heritage and he looked like he was going to cry.
So I went into "Mamma Bear" mode.
I popped my head over the seat, looked over at the sophomores, with one eyebrow raised.
"Yah?" He said, as if he was going nothing wrong.
"Leave him alone." Short, sweet, and to the point.
"Why?"
Good question. I shrugged. "Because he didn't do anything to you."
He laughed.
So I said, for some reason, the only thing that I could think of. "And if you don't I'm going to set you on fire." I kept a straight face. My voice was low, calm, and threatening. I waited for him to respond. But he never did.
I think he believed me.
He and his friend sat in silence the rest of the 30 minute bus ride.