Today I had to go into town and run some errands, which included a stop to the bank. A guy got off the bus at the same spot as me, and we kept kind of running into each other while heading to the same place-- the bank. We sat down to wait for our number to be called and he started talking to me, asking where I was from. When I said the US, he made the normal comments "Oh, I've always wanted to go" blah blah blah. He is from Bangladesh. I thought it was over.
He goes up to the teller, does his stuff, and then goes around the corner and sits on some other benches in another area. I speak to the teller for a minute, and she says I have to go speak to people in a different area-- the same spot where weird guy was sitting. I thought he had been told to go wait for the other person as well. As it was, there was only the one seat beside him and he immediately began asking me questions about US foreign policy. This, in itself, is not completely abnormal. However, he kept asking me about the US foreign policy to Bangladesh. Then, he started asking why the US allows Bangladeshi criminals to live in the US. Umm.... how the fuuck would I know? He started ranting about this general who had stolen a lot of money, allegedly killed many of his own people, and then hied himself off to live in Maryland in style, with his ill gotten gains.
Guy wants to know WHY the US doesn't try this evil man for all the bad things he's done, and WHY he's allowed to stay in the US. I tried explaining to him that the US has zero power to conduct justice in a foreign country. If Bangaladesh wants him back for trial, they have to petitioin the US to get this guy extradited. But he just kept going and going. All the while, I'm expecting/hoping his number will get called and he'll leave me alone.
Finally, I just say, "I understand what you're saying and I see why you're frustrated, but I am a citizen of the United States. I am not the government of the United States. I do not agree with everything they do and I do not disagree with everything they do." Then my number was called.
That's right about when I figured out that this guy hadn't been waiting to speak to someone at the bank-- he'd been sitting there, waiting for ME. What his plan had been, if I had left the bank without speaking to him again, I'm not really sure. BUT, I could see him out of the corner of my eye while I was at the counter for 10 minutes, just sitting there. Waiting. Finally, he left, but I was thisclose to asking for him to be escorted out. It was so fucking weird. How the hell am I supposed to know why bad people are allowed to live in the US?
The questions don't bother me, I'll talk to someone all day about that stuff if they want answers. But the WAY he was just kind of... stalking me in there just creeped me out. Not to mention-- he takes my bus (there's only one that goes out to my area), and he was on it before I got on. There are only 2 stops before mine, so he lives on my street.