Amazingly, it took me nearly two years to really have an unsettling encounter in this city. I guess I should be thankful, but I still feel uneasy.
Yesterday, while walking to BAM after checking out the new Target in my neighborhood, a man tried to tell me something as I walked by. I had my headphones on and couldn't hear what he said, but I slid them down as I was curious. After a quick inquiry, the man told me, "Oh, I thought you were an undercover cop that one time. I wanted to apologize." He wasn't nearly so eloquent, but it's hard to write in gibberish. I showed confusion, and he asked if I lived around here. I told him I lived a few blocks West and he was like, "Yeah, I sell weed on Hoyt Street!" Uh oh.
He apologized again and then went to knock fists with me. He knocked mine and then I knocked his. When I did that, it knocked his inhaler to the ground. We picked it up and he realized it was broken. I apologized, but said it under my breath as I wanted out of the situation, and started to walk away. "Hey man! Can't you apologize?" Then he snatches my glasses off my face and says, "What if I took something of yours?" I was shocked. "Excuse me, sir. Give me those back. I told you I was sorry. It was an accident." He must have snapped out of his stupor because he gave them back to me. I quickly walked away, ignoring his repeated requests for an apology.
After getting over the shock, I thought about the episode of Six Feet Under from two weeks ago. After seeing it, I wondered how you can trust anyone you meet on the street. Yesterday's event brought that home. This won't stop me from talking to people, but I will be a lot more cautious.
07/26/04 10:01 PM
Walking home from campus late one night near the Berkeley/Oakland border, a local homeless woman took my glasses right off my face. There's nothing quite like losing one of your senses to make you feel truly powerless.
07/26/04 11:00 PM
yikes! Sorry that had to happen, but I guess its good its only once in two years. We've only had property theft here in SF-jakes bike was stolen. Otherwise, no troubles with all the whacks here.
And no six feet under spoilers!!
07/27/04 8:10 PM
Matty, did you ever think that maybe part of the problem is that you insist on going out in black face every time you leave the house and venture out into your multicultural neighborhood?
07/27/04 10:13 PM
Charles, do you think that's an issue? Hmm. I'll try going au naturale tomorrow and see how things go.
Also...Andy, you were my 1,000th comment. Way to go.
07/28/04 6:35 AM
Yeah, au naturale is a good way to go.
So do I win a prize for being the 1,000th commentor? P&B M&M's would be a good start.
07/28/04 9:56 AM
Charles, I love you, but you'll need to start reading. Andy posted the 1,000th comment, not you. Still, I congratulate you on being 1,002.
07/28/04 10:28 AM
Dude, I read it quickly and where you wrote 'Andy', I saw 'and'. Yet even then, my initial interpretation would still make no sense. So yes, I am an ass.
So where is my prize for being number 1,002? That has to account for something.
07/31/04 12:56 AM
What happened to you is one of the oldest tricks in NYC by a certain kind of swindler. Sometimes it is glasses they will drop as you walk by, or a "crack vile", or in this case, an inhaler. Usually your willingness to participate includes offering money to cover what you supposedly broke, but if you just ignore or walk away, usually it's no big deal.
I have lived in NYC for about 10 years and have only had a few uncomfortable encounters. It's actually really rare and not something you should be too worried about. It's only TV that makes NYC seem so bad.
Troy
08/02/04 1:26 PM
I agree mostly with comment #8. I've both lived (now in Jersey) and worked in NYC on and off for the past 20+ years and only once someone asked me for a wallet and I said "thank you very much" while exhibiting a big smile. I think he is still standing on that corner trying to figure out what happened. That response by the way will get you out of many situations because the brain automatically reacts as if it just did something nice, which overwrites the "mugging protocol" or other hostile protocol program which was previously loaded.
As for six feet under, David was horny and therefore wasn't thinking clearly. If I were him, I may have given him the first ride, but when the "friendly" request kept coming I would have bowed out...it was clear where things were going after he bought him the gas. Anyway, how was it that they were riding around until dark looking for an ATM? It just shows how stupid one can me when thinking with one's sex drive, and that it would have been OK in fact for the first friendly gesture to have been the end of it. Last but not least, if at any time David would have said "I'm not afraid to die, so shoot me or go to he-(double hockey sticks), the guy would have likely stood down and walked away. It was only that David was so completly vulnerable that made the experience so compelling to the stranger.