Thursday, August 28, 2008

Belligerence on the bus

Yesterday after work, I got on the bus to go to Target (now that one is finally open in DC). About five minutes into the ride, we pulled over at a stop and a man who was probably about 40 years old and neatly dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt boarded. He walked right by the fare machine without paying and took a seat toward the front of the bus.

Nobody paid him much attention, except the bus driver, who was probably waiting to see if he was going to come back to pay his fare, which passengers sometimes do if they need to dig for change or whatever.

Right after he sat down, he said to seemingly nobody in particular, "I hate Jewish people."

He said it loudly, and aggressively, and the whole bus, which wasn't that full, heard. We all looked up, and for a minute nobody said anything, and then the woman sitting next to the guy said in an offended voice, "Excuse me. I'm Jewish."

It should be noted that I am technically Jewish as well, but I didn't say anything, nor would I have if the other woman hadn't spoken up. For one thing, I don't feel that my being Jewish makes the guy's comment much more offensive--I would have been equally offended if he had insulted a group of which I was not personally a part.

But more importantly, I am just not the type to engage with someone who is obviously spoiling for a conflict and who could potentially be dangerous. I do not consider it normal behavior to announce to a bus full of strangers that you hate Jewish people, and the comment immediately put me on the alert for other hateful and possibly more dangerous behavior. My instinct in such a situation is to put my head down and try to stay out of it.

In short, I would never have done what that girl did, for fear of escalating the situation. But I don't necessarily think that she shouldn't have done it. It did escalate the situation, though. The man leaned up close to her and repeated, more loudly, "I HATE JEWISH PEOPLE."

At this point, the bus driver got involved and said to the guy, "Where's your fare?" He responded that it was "right here," she asked him to pay it, and he didn't. She said to him, very firmly, that the next stop would be his stop. He said no.

She pulled the bus over and said, "This is your stop." He disagreed. He yelled that she was racist. He kept repeating, angrily, "I'm an American." The girl who had said she was Jewish responded, "So am I." He said, "No you aren't, you're Jewish." She said, "I'm still an American." The bus driver yelled, "Sir, get off the bus."

The guy yelled, "You're all racist. I'm an American. I hate Jewish people. I'm not getting off the bus."

The thing was that he didn't seem mentally disturbed. The way I'm telling it, he does sound like he had issues, and likely he did, but he seemed totally normal, totally aware of what he was saying, totally in the moment, and plenty intelligent. He was articulating himself and reacting to other people in a generally responsive way, the way you would assume that anyone would.

The bus driver screamed at the man that he had better get off the bus right then or she would call the transit authority. The man said, "I don't feel like it," and walked further toward the back of the bus. Other passengers, including the woman who had said she was Jewish, started yelling at him as well, shouting, "Get off the bus." One man got up out of his seat and moved toward the guy while telling him he needed to get off the bus.

The man yelled, "I hate Jewish people. You wanna fight, motherfucker? You wanna fight?" He moved menacingly toward the man who had stood. The other guy didn't move. The Jewish girl screamed, "Get off the bus right now or I'll call the police." The guy did not get off the bus. The girl got on her cell phone and called 911. She started reporting the situation. All the passengers on the bus, as well as the bus driver, were yelling and screaming at the guy to get off the bus, and he was yelling and screaming about how they were all racist motherfuckers.

Then, suddenly, he did get off the bus. He went through the back door, and then seemed to change his mind and walked back up to the front door as though he wanted to board again, but the bus driver closed the door before he got there. The guy pounded on the side of the bus and screamed, "I hate you Jewish motherfuckers." He almost looked like he was laughing as we drove away.

There was dead silence on the bus the rest of the way. The Jewish girl got off at the same stop that I did, and as she exited, she thanked the bus driver for dealing with the situation. The bus driver nodded and told us to have a nice day.

I've never seen such an episode on a bus before, or really anywhere else. I know it was tame, relatively speaking--the threatened fight didn't happen, nobody was hurt, and normal behavior resumed the second the belligerent guy got off the bus. But the experience was intense, and it rattled me quite a bit. I hope to never witness such a thing again.

69 comments:

  1. God, what a whacko. It sounds to me like he was doing it for kicks. The fact that he was laughing after he got off the bus indicates that he knew what he was doing.

    Yeah, that definitely would have rattled me, too. Sorry you went through that.

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  2. Wow. That would have totally freaked me out too. Some people's behavior is just too bizarre. I hope the rest of your trip to Target was more successful!

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  3. That is terrible! I would have been terrified because you never know if a wacko has a gun or something. I guess the good thing about this story is it's nice to hear that the other passengers kind of joined forces to keep him from causing too much trouble.

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  4. wow. that would freak me out because you never know what someone like that will do.

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  5. Oh my...that really sounds scary. You're braver than I am, I would have either started crying or would have gotten off the bus if he refused to. I mean, remember what happened on that bus not too long ago in Canada? The crazy guy who started stabbing the guy next to him THEN BEHEADED HIM?

    I swear, it's a wonder I ever leave my house. Glad the situation turned out ok.

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  6. Woah. I'm speechless. Did you read Lara's story about the bathroom offender yesterday? Maybe these two know each other and they're on some weird mission to mess with corporate America in strange and inappropriate ways.

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  7. Wow. What an odd situation. I don't understand situations that end abruptly like this one did. I mean, why would this guy act like this? Did he have a clear and rational (obviously in his own mind) explanation for why he was doing what he was doing?

    I'm definitely more low key like you, but I'm glad the passengers got involved and started yelling at him.

    And you just got a target in DC?

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  8. That's really scary. I wouldn't have spoken up if I were Jewish, either, just because you never know...that guy could have had a gun or something. I'm glad it ended "well".

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  9. That situation is scary, I would have been rattled too. Thank goodness it didn't escalate into anything else.

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  10. Wow. What a horrible encounter.
    I'm really surprised that no one called 911 sooner. I kept waiting for it to happen. Did police show up? I don't see why this jerk should be able to just walk away like that with potentially nothing happening to him.

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  11. That's frightening, whether the guy was mentally unstable OR just doing it for kicks. Either scenario is disturbing. I'm glad everything ended up OK.

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  12. Holy crap I am a little bit freaked just sitting here reading that. You just never know people's agenda and what they are capable of.

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  13. I get so scared and worried when stuff like that happens. Thankfully he didn't pull out any sort of weapon. That is why I don't confront people like that, no matter how normal they may look.

    He's a major whackjob!

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  14. Wow. I don't even know what to say, really. That is sad and scary. I'm glad it didn't escalate and I'm happy you're safe.

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  15. That is so scary! I would have immediately gotten off when the bus stopped and walked away.

    When driving or in other situations I remind myself, "It's just not worth it". I would have assumed the guy had a weapon, and the easiest way to avoid the situation is to get out of it.

    Sorry you had to deal with that. Target trips should be FUN.

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  16. How horrible!
    I wouldn't have said anything either, as you say, why escalate things. I'm glad no-one got hurt. Hope you have a better bus ride today!
    xxx

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  17. Sounds like a really intense and very personal situation. And I agree that his statement is offensive no matter who you are. I likely would've said to no one in particular (but loud enough for people to hear), "Now that's pretty offensive, isn't it?!" I'm not one to be directly in your face, but I also want to open up the door for others to state how they feel. And in that situation, I'm quite certain others would've jumped on-board.

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  18. ahhhhh dc. always something new ;-P

    i'm definitely of the "don't poke an angry bear" camp, but if someone ELSE pokes the bear, i think it's important that the rest of the people band together at that point. when i was living in france, there were a number of incidents of a (single!) gang member raping or beating someone on a FULL BUS. there were obviously enough people to stop the individual, but no one wanted to get involved.

    i suspect my position on this will change if i ever have kids, because then i'll feel it's more my responsibility not to put myself in unnecessary danger.

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  19. That’s so scary – I’ve had that experience at a bar hanging out with one of my really old, close friends who is quite a tough looking lesbian, I wouldn’t go out for a cigarette with some creepy guy but I went with her….and he followed us out of the bar, and tried to attack us while screaming slurs at us. It was a frightening experience, but we both backed him off enough for the bar staff to grab him and we got a couple of free drinks from the pub.

    It was a very strange and rare experience, but it was really great to see everyone on the patio and in front of the bar stand up and take notice – and to have them shouting at him to leave us alone, not knowing who we were or even that I wasn’t her girlfriend. It makes me feel lucky that I live in a city where that’s not even marginally okay.

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  20. Honestly, Jess, that would scare the crap out of me. Were you freaked?

    Plus, I wanted to tell you that I LOVE your invitations!

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  21. Wow, that sounds really scary. I'm not sure what I would have done in that situation. People who act like that always freak me out!

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  22. OMG I would have gotten off the bus instead! Not too long ago there was a guy beheaded on a bus in Canada. You just never know

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  23. Sometimes I wonder if things like that are an experiment being done by a bunch of psychology majors.

    I know, most likely, it was just some guy with issues. Some very scary issues.

    Heh, and here I thought Seattle had the corner on the bus-riding-weirdo market.

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  24. It sucks to have to experience something like that. At least nobody got hurt.

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  25. How frightening! What the hell was with that guy? I guess that just goes to show that you can't judge a book by its cover. People can "seem" normal but internally are totally OFF.

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  26. That is really scary sounding. It sounds like he wasn't taking his medication and was having a psychotic episode.

    Lordy. Glad you are ok.

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  27. Oh wow. that's really all I have to say about it. I'm Jewish too, but I don't know if I would have said anything. You never know what someone else is capable of.

    But good for the bus driver and everyone on the bus siding against him.

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  28. Oh My Gosh! For a minute while reading, I was hoping you were making this up. That would have freaked me out. I hope you bought something soothing and wonderful at Target!

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  29. Why is it that assholes think that public transit is the best place to take their assholiness out on others?

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  30. Oh, this is terrible! I am all twitchy just thinking about it. Situations like those always freaked me out, but they were pretty far and few between. I just worry, "Wow - what is REALLY going to make this person snap?"

    Then I get really sad that they don't have the help they so obviously need. Why isn't anyone watching out for them, too?

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  31. Wow, that is one of the craziest damned things I've ever heard. I think you did the smart thing in not speaking up, especially consideringer the basically closed off nature of a bus.

    Goodness, hope you're feeling a bit better.

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  32. I agree, you don't want to poke the angry bear, but when someone is spoiling for a fight like that my experience is they usually find a way to escalate it even if no one takes the bait. I was encouraged to hear about how the bus crowd banded together- I'm with Alice, it's amazing to me when there's a big crowd of people yet no one acts. One person? Probably wise not to take it on yourself. Big group? There's power there.

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  33. Wow! What a frightening story. Good for that woman for standing up and saying something.

    Sometimes, it's the well-dressed, clean cut folks who are scarier than the people society casts aside as indigent.

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  34. What a creep. Crazy to hear that story in a place as diverse as DC. I have lived in Houston, Toronto, and San Fran and NEVER encountered anything so disturbing. Way to maintain your composure, I don't know if I could have.

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  35. And that, is exactly why I hate the bus.

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  36. I can't even imagine what would motivate someone to do that. To go out seeking a fight like that is bizarre--definitely a sign of issues, even if he seemed otherwise "normal". I'm glad it didn't escalate further and that you weren't in danger. Scary.

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  37. Wow. yikes. That guy sounds like he had a couple of screws loose. I'm glad it was just slander and not anything physical.

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  38. Oh man... my stomach just tied up in knots

    I loathe that type of behavior, that kind of bigotry

    I'm extra sensitive to it as it is because of a) being German and b) being black

    Gah.. I hope that guy wakes the f*ck up. And soon.

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  39. that is so ridiculous I don't even know what to say.

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  40. How scary! I would have been terrified and probably would have ran off the bus screaming at the first chance I got!

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  41. CRAZY!!!! I'm so glad that the guy didn't do anything other than wear his crazy hat.

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  42. I am floored. What a strange situation. I am happy no one got hurt... besides emotionally.

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  43. That is NUTS. I wouldn't have said anything, either: that's not an "opportunity to educate," that's an "opportunity for restraints and medications."

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  44. OH MY GOD. That is terrifying. I would have freaked out!!!

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  45. Oh, the bus. Phillip is always coming home with good bus stories. Sometimes I miss it. Maybe you can think of it this way: not everyone has such entertaining stories to tell about a trip to Target.

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  46. Good lord, Jess. That sounds terribly creepy. I don't know if I would have gotten off the bus as soon as possible or what, but I know that if I feel awkward about something, I'd rather catch the next train or bus rather than stay.

    Either way, I'm glad that this story didn't turn into the 10:00 news head feature.

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  47. Scary stuff.. I would have done the same as you: kept my head down and stayed quiet.

    Some people shouldn't be allowed in public... I saw a guy today take revenge on a bus driver for blocking him into a car park. He speed ahead of the bus, blocked a roundabout and got out of his car to scream abuse and give a few expressive hand signals.

    It was all pretty bizzare.

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  48. That's downright depressing. I'm sorry for you and everyone else who had to witness it. I'm really glad it didn't turn into something worse.

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  49. Ugh. I hate bus crazies, but I get to experience them all the time because here in gorgeous Anchorage, Alaska we have tons of drunk bums. I actually started to carry mace because of horrible bus crazy experiences.

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  50. Yikes! Glad you're safe and sound now!

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  51. oh my god. i would have been terrified. ESPECIALLY with all the random acts of violence that are just inexplicable of late. i would have gotten off the next stop for sure and waited for the next bus!
    i'm so glad you and everyone on the bus are safe! call me paranoid, but for real. scary. you never know what people are capable of.

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  52. Wow, that is so weird. I hate situations like that, because I'm always like "Wait, am I overreacting, or is this person really freaky?" And by the time I realize that they are indeed freaky, they have crossed over into scary.

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  53. How freaky - and how sad that someone would be so ignorant...

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  54. that is so creepy. you are lucky that it wasn't worse and that people had the courage to stand up to him and make him leave the bus.

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  55. Good grief. I totally would never ride the bus again. I refuse to ride public transportation unattended for exactly that reason - too many whackos.

    Glad you're okay.

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  56. Yikes, I do not do well in those type of situations. Either I get super scared and start to cry, or I start to fight. Clearly, I am not well-rounded.

    I'm glad no one was (physically) hurt.

    xox

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  57. Holy shit that is scary. I've seen altercations nearly happen on the bus here too but nothing to that extent. glad no one was hurt and you're okay.

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  58. Your description of how you handle those situations is *exactly* the way I am, too. My first instinct is just to get out of there alive because (also like Alice said) you just never know any more. And I also agree that when one person steps in, everyone should.
    Along that line - isn't 'crowd mentality' amazing in that kind of situation? I can absolutely imagine a situation in which no one would say anything. And I wonder how it would have turned out then.

    I am racking my brain for reasons why any not-insane person would do this. The only two things I can come up with are A) Fraternity stunt and B) .....blog fodder [shudder].
    But, I can't really explain it because who the eff DOES that??!

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  59. WOW. I used to ride Metro all the time, and got my fair share of scary homeless guys who wanted to sit with me a little too much, but never someone like THAT. I would have been petrified, I think. I'm guessing that he was either drunk or mentally ill. There's no other explanation. I'm sorry that happened.

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  60. It is crazy what you witness riding public transit at times-- but that takes the cake! You really have to wonder what the guy's motivations were...

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  61. As Caitlin and Alice pointed out, the crowd mentality in these situations is just baffling. And although I'm extremely outspoken and would like to think of myself as someone who'd defend people (as I hope all of us would), I'm sure I would have responded exactly the same as you, for reasons of personal safety. Still, whenever I hear a story along these lines (and thank goodness this one ended the way it did, with everyone unharmed), I can't help but think of Kitty Genovese [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese]. Sorry to invoke that. :(

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  62. Wow. This makes me thankful for all of the weird but quiet people that I ride the bus with everyday.

    It's so awful that there are still idiots like that guy around.

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  63. Jeez Louise! It scares me that there are people like him who can be so ignorant and be completely apathetic about it.

    That's not really the best way to describe what I'm thinking but you get the idea...hah!

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