How to ruin a good adventure

Written by

Ophelia Benson

in

Well that was interesting.

I went to the other side of the city for a walk along the Lake, and very nice it was. Then I got on the third and last bus of the homeward trip. I sat in the only nearby vacant seat, next to a very beefy man who made no effort to make room for me. This meant I had to kind of wedge myself in, with much more contact with beefy man than I wanted. The result was that he then punched me hard with his elbow. I don’t mean he nudged me, or pushed or leaned sideways, I mean he lifted his arm and slammed me hard.

I yelled “OW!” and he explained that I deserved it for wedging myself in. I said it’s called sitting down in a vacant seat. People nearby stared but said and did nothing. This is life in Trump’s America I guess. I hate Trump’s America.

Comments

4 responses to “How to ruin a good adventure”

  1. twiliter Avatar
    twiliter

    Probably one of Trump’s ‘manosphere’ bros. Worthless bastards.

  2. Mosnae Avatar
    Mosnae

    People nearby stared but said and did nothing.

    I regret to say I would have been part of the crowd. I keep seeing people being complete jerks in transit, and I never do anything about it.

  3. iknklast Avatar
    iknklast

    I don’t know if I would say anything on a bus; I’m starting to look like the frail old woman I am. But I have spoken up on a train. Minutes later, the conductor came through and took the guy to sober up; he later apologized. But without knowing there is someone who could and would protect me, I might stare out the window. Getting severely hurt isn’t part of my retirement plans.

  4. Ophelia Benson Avatar
    Ophelia Benson

    Really? I speak up, despite being no Amazon. I wouldn’t if the problem were a guy with a gun, or a guy lurching around punching everyone, but if it’s one drunk or loony…I don’t speak up every time, if it’s minor or the driver clearly has it under control, but there have been times when I did. But we have a history here. Years ago a guy attacked a driver and caused the bus to drive off a high bridge; the driver was killed. I happened to drive into that neighborhood not long afterward; the memory is vivid. The result is we tend to be protective of our drivers, at least those of us old enough to remember.

    Just a week or two ago a woman went doolally and marched up to the driver to shout at him to stop playing that song, it demeans Chinese people yadda yadda – only there was no song, there is never a song, drivers don’t play songs. The driver was rattled, and asked if she wanted him to call his supervisor in. She said yes then no, but continued to rant. I was up front, seat nearest the driver, so I yelled rather loudly “Good thing there are cameras on this bus!” The driver kind of jumped – oh yes, the recordings – and played the canned announcement that There Are Cameras On This Bus. The journey resumed without further incident. To be fair, I didn’t feel at all threatened by the shouty woman, just irritated.

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