Recently I went on a short trip to Dhamer city. When I started my journey, I got on the bus quietly. There were around 16 men and one old woman in the bus.

They were quiet and relaxing in their seats. Soon the bus became full and the bus driver told one of the men to close the door. The engines started and the bus began moving and still the passengers were silent. The bus driver turned the radio on. The music was about revolution.

That is when people started talking with one another. I was reading the last issue of the Yemen Times newspaper. I joined in the conversation with some of the Yemen Times news.

The conversation started to become louder. One of passengers was talking very loudly with his friend about the regime and the president of the country.

He swore to his friend that he and youth’s revolution would judge the president of Yemen. Not only that but they would kill him. Suddenly, angry voices came from the back of the bus.

Everyone quickly turned to see where the sounds were coming from. I stopped reading and put the newspaper down. Suddenly the old woman shouted loudly at the man who was talking about the regime and president.

People were surprised at her manner with that man. The man started feeling both embarrassed and angry at her behavior.

She scolded him for talking about the president. “Don’t speak a word about our president,” she said. “If you speak any bad words about him, I’ll kill you myself. He is the president of Yemen and he’ll stay forever. And you, you’re a stupid man and the son of the stupid man.”

He replied: “Hey! What happened my kind mother? Why are you reproving me? All the revolution’s youth say this.”

The old woman loudly cried out at him again and the people started talking together about her. Where’s she from? And who is she? They looked at her. The man tried to stop her, but she shouted again and stood up from her seat to fight him.

The people cried out and sat her down.

“Respect yourself and your speech. He is a killer and a thief. So we must judge and punish him for his bad acts,” the man said of Saleh.

Then the old woman couldn’t stop talking. She was so angry she wanted to kill that man. “You!? You want to kill him, punish him. Never will that happen. If you’ll not stop talking, I’ll take you to prison or I’ll call the military security units to punish you,” she cried.

The man stopped talking. He turned back to talk with his friend. The old woman was still talking to herself and other people on the bus, but nobody answered. She continued for minutes before she finally stopped.

Finally someone else asked her: “Why are you angry and why do you want to fight that man?”

But she scolded him too. “You just think I’m just an old woman, but I can fight, be dangerous, catch and kill you or anyone who speaks about my soul, president Ali Abdullah Saleh,” she said angrily.

The trip continued with tense conversation. The old woman suddenly stopped talking. She was looking about at the people. One of the men came back to the original subject and the fighting continued.

 I was glad when we reached our destination but am still surprised at the whole incident.