rm: (blue)
[personal profile] rm
Getting out of the subway system today, someone tried to pickpocket me. I was more in my own world than I normally tend to be when moving about in the train system, but suddenly I was very aware of someone near my personal space -- or rather the space of my messenger bag. That alone is a funny thing, but studies have shown in fact that we do have an internal spatial perception of ourselves that includes whatever we might be wearing (there was a study done as regards ladies hats once upon a time that determined this -- I can't remember the details but it was written about in the New York Times within the last month).

At any rate, there I am on the stairs, and I turned, and said "Excuse me," and then I registered that this man was snatching his hand back from by bag.

"Sorry," he said.

"You were trying to grab my bag."

"No. I was just reaching," he said, very calmly and then turned around and walked down the stairs the other way while I stood there with my mouth hanging open.

When I got to the stop of the stairs, and had verrified I had all my stuff, I considered the possiblity that the man was telling teh truth, and that I had somehow misinterpretted one of those inevitable things that happens solely because of the level of crowdedness here.

But I decided, after stewing on it for a while, that this could not possibly be the case -- someone falsely accused would have reacted more stridently, and if they had chosen to walk the other way to avoid my wrath (which wasn't even in effect I was so stunned), they would have immediately gone up the other staircase, which this man did not -- he went back into the train system.

I am not freaked out, so much as annoyed. It's an affront to my vision of myself that someone would be so daft as to think they could pickpocket me, both because I am clever, and because I don't carry anything anywhere that's easy to grab.

So yeah, that was fun.

Think I am good on my lines, but am freaked out about rehearsal anyway. I'm trying to stay calm, and I'll have a few hours to study before rehearsal tonight besides. Mostly, I just want to be quiet, do my work, and go home and work on it all some more.

I am at Kinkos (due to the lack of computers with Internet at work) and I am annoyed because people here are needing _serious_ technical help, and are requesting it loudly enough that I can't even concentrate on this boring little account.

Date: 2004-08-04 10:45 pm (UTC)
ext_24631: editrix with a martini (Default)
From: [identity profile] editrx.livejournal.com
I had someone try to unzip my backpack (which was slung over one shoulder) on the London Underground. Same response, "I was just reaching." I responded, "Then why was the zipper pull on the bottom when I got on, and now it's in the middle? Oh right. That would be because it has a padlock on the pull, you idiot. Didn't you you bother to look and see why it wasn't opening?"

The look I got in response was priceless. Yup, he'd not looked. I think he thought it had been unzipping and he was trying to stick his hand in ... instead it went "whack" against the still-closed backpack, which is why I noticed what was going on.

I love those tiny padlocks, I do.

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