‘I’ll be done in six minutes’: Incredible moment a meditating commuter forces a transport officer to wait until she’s finished ‘contemplating life and the universe’ to produce her ticket
- Steph Athanasopoulos meditates daily, and chose to do so on a Melbourne tram
- A transit officer approached her mid-meditation demanding to see her ticket
- Ms Athanasopoulos claims she asked the officer to wait until her session ended
An officer who approached a woman while she was meditating on a tram demanding to see a valid ticket was forced to wait six minutes until the woman finished.
Steph Athanasopoulos meditates daily, and on Monday morning she chose to use the morning commute through Melbourne to complete the session.
She said she was 14 minutes into a 20 minute session meditation when a female ticket officer confronted her demanding to see her ticket.
The 27-year-old enters a state of transcendental meditation, where she sits in silence and reiterates a personal mantra subconsciously.
An officer who approached a woman while she was meditating on a tram demanding to see a valid ticket was forced to wait six minutes until the woman finished
Ms Athanasopoulos said she thought the transit officer would notice she was meditating, but when the pestering continued she politely ‘opened her eyes, told the woman the meditation had six minutes left, closed her eyes and continued’.
Ms Athanasopoulos said: ‘My response to her reaction was one I chose to do having considered the alternative, ”easier” option of obliging to her forceful attempts at gaining my attention.
‘The option that would have left me feeling powerless and unsafe, feelings she was already triggering in me with her constant berating.
‘Growing up in a patriarchal society, I have experienced this type of behaviour and am in the process of healing the emotions that lay dormant within due to repression and lack of acceptance.’
She said she hoped to challenge the societal need for instant gratification.
Steph Athanasopoulos meditates daily, and on Monday morning she chose to use the morning commute through Melbourne to complete the session
‘I truly felt that asking this woman for six minutes to continue a meditation would be met with acceptance and understanding.
‘I was obviously wrong and she did not like to wait the six minutes I had left and so felt the need to continue to demand my ticket for the remainder of the meditation, barely waiting half a second between each ”excuse me miss open your eyes”.’
The woman begrudgingly waited for Ms Athanaspoulos timer to go off.
When it did, and the meditation was over, Ms Athanaspoulos handed over her identification and her Myki travel card.
‘She said to me ”do you know what would happen if I had to wait 20 minutes for everyone on this tram to finish their meditation?”,’ Ms Athanaspoulos told Yahoo7.
‘I replied ”the world would be a much better place”.’
The 27-year-old enters a state of transcendental meditation, where she sits in silence and reiterates a personal mantra subconsciously