Almost five years of living in NYC, and I haven't been assaulted by anyone. I'm large (enough), male, and well, haven't worried too much about it, even very late at night in desolate not so nice neighborhoods.
And tonight, in Williamsburg, I sat, studying, as it was, Polish, and a lanky mid-20s guy, with long very sleek brown hair meandered over and sat down next to me, close. He looked up at me with a look I'm quite familiar: stoned cold drunk.
Anyway, I asked him how much he had to drink, and he didn't say anything. In fact, he got up and left for a few moments. And then he must have raged over into actual physical confrontation mode, because he threw himself at me for everything he was worth, enough momentum to break the chair I was in. I jumped, up, almost not aware of what was happening--removed, even--and sort of stuck my hand into his face to hold him back. Some other guy grabbed him. I didn't think he would persist in the way that he did, but, well, I was wrong. He persisted. Until this other guy threw the first guy on the ground, which was nice. Anyway, I'm fine. It was strange, at best.
To top it all off, this kid got up off the ground and told the now swelling group of people staring at him that "we just didn't understand," because he was a genius. That's what he said. A genius.
Anyway, this corresponds directly with an increased fare for my Polish lessons, which means I'll take them up on my own, and not go back there ever, perhaps.
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