I know the name of this entry makes it seem like I was mugged, but before I send my family into a fright, I want everyone to know that it was a false alarm. Though the subways are rather terrifying, in all honestly, whatever happens down there can also happen in the street. My cousin is very tense about getting robbed/mugged so she definitely scared me a little. I really believe, that if you act like you own the place, no one will mess with you. Ignore the sketchy looking people you walk by, and only ask for directions from couples, families, or helpless old women. I really think that crazy people are like dogs in that they can sense your fear. Think positively and not a whole lot can go wrong.
My story actually took place up on the street, right after I exited a subway in broad daylight. Though the story is long, it all happened in the matter of seconds. I was on my way home when all of a sudden a little pig-tailed girl dropped a crumpled wad of money. She had no idea that she had dropped it as she kept walking in the opposite direction. Being the honest person that I am, I picked up the cash and intended to give it back to the little girl. I turned around and called after her, but she didn’t seem to hear me, or maybe she was ignoring my yells since there are some crazies that wander the streets ranting at people as they walk by.
All of a sudden someone grabbed onto my bicep from behind. I didn’t think I was going to die necessarily, but I knew that whoever was grabbing me was after the wad of cash in my hand. I flipped around and stared up into the discerning eyes of a very large, very dark man. Still holding onto my arm, he yelled, “That’s hers” as he pointed to the fleeing girl. I yanked my arm away from him and snapped, “I know!” I then dodged around the slow moving crowd and made it close enough to the little girl that she could hear me. She looked very troubled as I said, “Excuse me, you dropped this,” and held out the dollars. Her mother turned around and told her to not be afraid as she reached into my hand and took her money.
Walking back in the direction that I was interrupted from, I realized that the man who had grabbed me was not as scary as he originally had made himself out to be. He was wearing what looked like an airplane pilot’s hat and a long-tailed grey suit on this sweltering day. I figured out that he was actually the doorman for an apartment building. The same apartment building that, I’m sure, this little girl and her mother had just walked out of. After the fact, I realized that it was very nice of him to try and protect his residents. During, he scared me half to death! I was really preparing myself for someone taking the money straight out of my hand and running away with it and possibly some of my other belongings.
I’m sure I looked like the type of person that would take the poor girl’s money (considering I was dressed like a beach bum on my way home from tanning in the park), but the doorman definitely could have taken a different situational approach. One, he was huge; two, his voice was very loud; and three he was HUGE. There was no way a girl my size was going to mess with him, even if he acted like a pansy and asked me nicely to return the girls money to her. I know that it’s hard to give people the benefit of the doubt in a city like New York, but not everyone is innately bad.
Always,
Alena Netia Horowitz
