Too Much Caffeine on the Green Line?
At Park Street this morning, I boarded a C train and sat down as commuters continued to pile on. A man wearing a black Guiness baseball cap came charging on, clearly intent on something. He shoved his way through the crowd and bolted toward an unassuming woman making her way to the back of the car. He proceeded to SMACK her on the back and yelled something along the lines of "Thanks for pushing me! You pushed me!"
She mumbled something about someone else having pushed her; her assailant, meanwhile, had turned around to head back toward the middle of the car.
He HIT her. No one else seemed to notice. Is this normal commuting behavior now? It's now okay to hit people if you perceive that they have wronged you on the T?
He spent the rest of the ride hanging on to a ceiling rail, jittery, bobbing up and down uncontrollably. Maybe he could have used a Guiness for breakfast.
I think I'm even more surprised at HER behavior -- she didn't scream or anything?!
Posted by: Karen | April 24, 2006 at 02:29 PM
I agree with Karen- I'm suprised nothing was said by her.
Posted by: ~Dawn | April 24, 2006 at 10:08 PM
Sounds like misdemeanor Assault and Battery to me. Often, there are cops at Park Street. You can always ask the trolley operator to summon the police. They are required to do so when asked.
Of course, assault and battery is not an arrestable offense unless committed in the officer's presence, so the worst he'd get would be a summons. Still, maybe he was in possession of the drugs that made him all jittery. One never knows.
That's what the T police are for; call them.
Posted by: carpundit | April 25, 2006 at 08:39 AM
Sounds like performance art to me.
Posted by: Lee Anne | April 25, 2006 at 04:21 PM
Karen, no she just kept going, like it was perfectly normal to get slapped while on the T.
Carpundit, yes I would have been all over assault & battery charges with the guy, but I wasn't the victim. And no police to be found.
Lee Anne, yes, perhaps it was performance art! But then again, this isn't San Francisco...
Posted by: Ellen | April 26, 2006 at 08:59 AM
Kind of too bad that (it sounds like) no one in her immediate vicinity stood up to him either
Posted by: Lyss | May 10, 2006 at 04:10 PM