jatx
06-25-2006, 16:55
I had a very disturbing incident this afternoon.
After leaving an exhibit near South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan, I walked past a group of Rasta-looking types packing up their bongos, apparently on their way to a better corner. As I did this, one of the men began angrily berating his three small children, approx. 8-9 years old, who appeared to be sitting obediently and quietly. One girl, two boys.
Anyway, I sort of veered around them, but looked back over my should only to see the man STRIKE the first boy on the side of the head with the heel of his hand. And I'm not talking about a slap, it was a hard blow close to the kid's temple, who fell on the ground and began crying.
I stopped in my tracks about 30 feet from where this was happening, only to see the man move to the second child, a little girl who was visibly cringing, and STRIKE her exactly the same way. She began crying and he then repeated his actions with the third child. All of this happened within 30 seconds, and he continued yelling at them in some unintelligible patois.
Where I come from, you don't hit kids, and if you do it is everybody's business. I took out my phone and called 911. While I was giving the operator my location, one of the other males in the group spotted me and began walking my direction. He had a drum of some sort under one arm and a large bag under the other. When he got to within a few feet of me, he started shouting, "Mind your own fu@#ing business!" He was clearly agitated.
Luckily, a cruiser stopped just feet from me at that moment, and I yelled to the cops inside that they needed to stop the first man, who was beating his children. They flipped a quick U turn and headed down the block after him, as he had started to flee the scene. This left me alone on the corner with the agitated guy, so I began walking quickly toward where the police had stopped, approx. 50 yds up the sidewalk.
The guy followed me closely, growing angrier and angrier, shouting at me the entire time. People around us were oblivious. He then said, "Maybe I should smack you upside your f@#cking head!" I began looking for a way to get away from him, but my options were somewhat limited. The sidewalk was crowded and the street was very busy.
I then heard him say to me, "Yeah, I AM going to hit you upside your f@#cking head." I turned to look at him and a heavy piece of wood, like a length of old-fashioned broom handle, had appeared in his hand. I was still separated from the police by about 25 yards of crowded sidewalk.
So I reached under my t-shirt and pulled out my new HAK (a bday present from JAGeorgia), which was hanging around my neck. As soon as I had it out, a woman screamed. The guy paused and looked at me like I was crazy. And the next thing I knew, one of the officers was between us and taking the club from the guy. After some back and forth, it was agreed that my HAK was not an illegal knife, and it was returned before I was sent on my way.
Bottom line: If this had happened it Texas, I would have been carrying and the police would probably not have been so close by. It would probably have ended in a shooting, judging by the guy's demeanor (he had clearly worked himself into a frenzy while following me). I'm glad that didn't have to happen.
But these days I travel a lot, and that means being unarmed except for a knife most of the time. The HAK is unobtrusive and easy to carry, and would be harder to knock out of my hand in a situation like this, were it ever repeated.
Thanks for the new tool, FS, you bought me a few crucial seconds today.
After leaving an exhibit near South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan, I walked past a group of Rasta-looking types packing up their bongos, apparently on their way to a better corner. As I did this, one of the men began angrily berating his three small children, approx. 8-9 years old, who appeared to be sitting obediently and quietly. One girl, two boys.
Anyway, I sort of veered around them, but looked back over my should only to see the man STRIKE the first boy on the side of the head with the heel of his hand. And I'm not talking about a slap, it was a hard blow close to the kid's temple, who fell on the ground and began crying.
I stopped in my tracks about 30 feet from where this was happening, only to see the man move to the second child, a little girl who was visibly cringing, and STRIKE her exactly the same way. She began crying and he then repeated his actions with the third child. All of this happened within 30 seconds, and he continued yelling at them in some unintelligible patois.
Where I come from, you don't hit kids, and if you do it is everybody's business. I took out my phone and called 911. While I was giving the operator my location, one of the other males in the group spotted me and began walking my direction. He had a drum of some sort under one arm and a large bag under the other. When he got to within a few feet of me, he started shouting, "Mind your own fu@#ing business!" He was clearly agitated.
Luckily, a cruiser stopped just feet from me at that moment, and I yelled to the cops inside that they needed to stop the first man, who was beating his children. They flipped a quick U turn and headed down the block after him, as he had started to flee the scene. This left me alone on the corner with the agitated guy, so I began walking quickly toward where the police had stopped, approx. 50 yds up the sidewalk.
The guy followed me closely, growing angrier and angrier, shouting at me the entire time. People around us were oblivious. He then said, "Maybe I should smack you upside your f@#cking head!" I began looking for a way to get away from him, but my options were somewhat limited. The sidewalk was crowded and the street was very busy.
I then heard him say to me, "Yeah, I AM going to hit you upside your f@#cking head." I turned to look at him and a heavy piece of wood, like a length of old-fashioned broom handle, had appeared in his hand. I was still separated from the police by about 25 yards of crowded sidewalk.
So I reached under my t-shirt and pulled out my new HAK (a bday present from JAGeorgia), which was hanging around my neck. As soon as I had it out, a woman screamed. The guy paused and looked at me like I was crazy. And the next thing I knew, one of the officers was between us and taking the club from the guy. After some back and forth, it was agreed that my HAK was not an illegal knife, and it was returned before I was sent on my way.
Bottom line: If this had happened it Texas, I would have been carrying and the police would probably not have been so close by. It would probably have ended in a shooting, judging by the guy's demeanor (he had clearly worked himself into a frenzy while following me). I'm glad that didn't have to happen.
But these days I travel a lot, and that means being unarmed except for a knife most of the time. The HAK is unobtrusive and easy to carry, and would be harder to knock out of my hand in a situation like this, were it ever repeated.
Thanks for the new tool, FS, you bought me a few crucial seconds today.