Having an excuse to make a scene and attack you is the point! That’s how schoolyard bullies work, by seeking out reasons to get into fights with their chosen victims! They’re cowards who won’t pick a fight unless they can come up with a justifiable reason why the fight needed to happen, and claim you started the fight by responding to whatever their aggression was. They escalate until you have no choice but to respond, and think their aggression is subtle or unseen.

One of the key things about bullies is they can’t be bullies unless their prey knows they’re present and don’t Ike them. This is what it’s like living a marginalized identity. Some people feel like they need to let you know they don’t like that identity, and they cannot be whoever they are unless you know it too. You can be wherever you are, doing what you’re supposed to be doing, in a place where you have every right to be, but at any second people like that can pop up out of seemingly nowhere, invading your space, trying to teach you that you don’t belong in that space.

My heart goes out to you for this. I think you did the right thing in prioritizing your peace of mind. Sometimes the best way to handle people like that is to teach them they’re insignificant you.