Saturday, August 23, 2008

hitmen.

The other day I was walking through Chinatown buying groceries when an old Asian man hit me on the arm with his fist for no apparent reason. He'd been walking toward me on the sidewalk. When it happened his face expression was impassive, like what it isn't normal to hit a girl's arm? Why can't I hit you on the arm HA. It was somewhat of a punch except that he was weak and the only thing that hurt about it was that his fist was pointy and thin, so it felt like a hard jab.

I was too shocked to do anything or say anything. What had just happened, I turned my head and he was still strolling along. I didn't feel like being the immature one making a big deal about something so "normal". Why did you do that?! Why why? and so I stared at him strolling and wondered how it would've been to throw down my grocery bags, rice wine and the bloody chicken all over the sidewalk.

Instead, it made me think of a month or so before when I was on the subway platform at City Hall. Again, nothing out of the ordinary, I had just gotten off the train when suddenly the girl behind me kicked my back. It didn't really hurt because she'd tried to do a fancy wheel kick or something - the kind where the foot goes past one's head. When I turned in shock, I saw that she'd almost lost her balance. She was a black girl, my age, and looked profoundly normal. She was wearing a t-shirt that had sparkly writing in script across the chest, and I tried to remember vaguely if I had the same shirt, and did it say Princess or Miss or ??.

"Bitch!" she screamed as she walked by. "Try looking at my face you bitch!" In the next moments, I was screaming back blindly and tossed my bag down (very intimidating I’m sure.. it had a panda on it). “It’s too ugly! %^78#$%. COME BACKKK AWRRRR.” And as she turned her head, she looked at me as though I were the insane one. And so I picked up my bag and tried to walk calmly to the other end of the platform, as though this was all very normal interaction.

I don’t know what’s happening. Do I inspire violence? Maybe there’s a hit on me… *knock on wood*. but FINE wannabe martial artists bring it.