My first reaction was to feel rejected and lonely. “Why don’t they want to sit next to me? Don’t they like me? What’s wrong with me?” Even after I realized that this must be their way of being polite...

My first reaction was to feel rejected and lonely. “Why don’t they want to sit next to me? Don’t they like me? What’s wrong with me?” Even after I realized that this must be their way of being polite to me, I still couldn’t help feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable sitting all alone, separated from the others. In America, they would have put me in front with the member who was driving, and the other member would have sat alone in back.