I walked past this dude in the Village the other day and accidentally brushed his leg with one of the grocery bags I was holding. He assumed I had kicked him, and that I’d done so deliberately, and followed me down the street kicking the backs of my legs until I located the pepper spray in my purse.
This other time, driving my minivan on the Henry Hudson, I was about to pass a car on the right but slowed down because people were merging into my lane from an entrance up ahead. In the meantime, some guy had decided that following me was the fastest way to get around the middle cars rather than passing on the left, and became very angry when I slowed. He proceeded to tear around me in the entrance lane on my right and slam on his brakes, causing my dog to crack her jaw on the dashboard when I had to brake sharply she was ok, and has become a backseat-only dog since this little incident. He crept forward at 10 mph and kept braking at intervals – on a freeway, mind you – didn’t allow me to pass him, and turned to remain in front of me when I made an exit. It was very scary and I had just pulled up directions to a police station when he got tired of tormenting me and drove off.
Oh yeah, and then there was this guy sitting next to me on the subway a few weeks ago who started muttering curse words at me, presumably because I was absentmindedly jiggling my leg. When I asked him what the problem was, he started screaming at me about how all the white girls are little bitches, threw a dollar at me, and got off at the next stop.
I just love NYC.~