Casual Sexism

So, this happened today evening 6:15PM. I was at a traffic signal, stuck at the far-left side of the road. There was a bit of space between the platform and an auto, and I thought I could travel through. But then, my wheel got stuck in one of those sloppy little drain paths (full of seru & sagathi). As I tried to move back, my mudguard accidentally tapped the auto side. I immediately said, Sorry, Anna! Stopped trying to get the vehicle out from the small drainage path thats full of mud and slush & planned to wait till the vehicles move. And guess what the auto bro said? With a sarcastic tone, he said this twice “Sorry-a? Ponnunga maari solranunga.. Ethukeduthalum sorry...” There was a lady passenger in the auto too, and he kept yapping on his phone, making triggering comments. See, I get it—it’s your vehicle. Fine. But why drag women into it? Why act like saying sorry is something only ponnunga(women) do? Like, come on—what’s wrong with apologizing? Are guys not supposed to? Or is apologizing suddenly a bad thing? Comments like this don’t just mock women, it’s insulting them. They make it sound like being polite or accountable is somehow a weakness. I kept my cool, though. No point in arguing with someone like that. Probably grew up with this mindset, and fighting with him wouldn’t change anything. And Honestly, I stand by this.. if being respectful and accountable makes me like a woman, I’ll happily take this as a compliment.