When did strangers get so mean?

I traveled for business last week and came back feeling so disheartened and fairly surprised by all of the mean women I encountered.

Just a selection of some of these encounters. These women were all my age (mid-20s) or older (30s/40s):

• Two women in line directly behind me to board my plane commenting on my clothes and making jokes about the bags I was carrying. They were talking in somewhat hushed tones but I was also standing only about a foot away from them.

• As I was presenting a poster of some of my work to two people (male and female). The female kept joking and laughing at me and my work in derisive not a congenial way.

• I went out one night to a jazz club. I saw an empty seat at a row of communal-type tables. I asked the two women next to the seat if I could sit there. They looked me up and down and then one of them said no. Fine, I thought, must be saving it for someone so I find a spot to stand near that bar. That seat remained open the for the next hour until the women got up and left.

I know all these women are the exception on the rule to women interacting with other female strangers. I encountered and met a lot of other women on this trip who were kind and friendly or just polite but not talkative. We don't all have to be friends with all women everywhere but I was disappointed at how I felt bullied by these strangers. Of course I don't know what these women are going through but regardless it's not awesome to treat strangers like this.

So ladies lets all work on building each other up.

edit: words are hard