Driving around downtown, alone, on my way to meet W, S, and N, looking for parking and finding none except in desolate creepy places (everything was sectioned off because of a marathon) I decided to go home. Then after talking to S who was just getting to the party, I decided to head back towards 4th and Los Angeles. I was waiting at a stop light, it turned green, I started to drive and Yikes there were two people, a man and woman, in front of my car who I hadn't seen before. They must have walked out right as the light changed. I really almost hit them, they had their hands on the hood, their little eyes squinting in the headlights, constricted no doubt, by the fear of imminent death upon them. I pushed on the brake. They were not dead. Thank god. Nor were they apparently insured but I'm sure, still quite afraid. Suddenly before I knew what was happening the guy came to my window and began to scream and punch. I didn't try to drive off; I was too stunned. He was punching really hard and after the third time he succeeded in shattering the glass on my window. Then he walked away with this woman. It must have all taken place in the time it took for the light to change to green again.
This guy, I don't know what he looked like but as much as one can register someone under the circumstances, he was white, my age, kind of a stupid downtown hipster, dressed like someone in a Coca Cola commercial. I don't remember the woman at all. Today though I've wondered a lot about what her reaction to her companion's outbreak was. Was she disgusted and afraid of him? Or flattered that he was willing to punch through a window to punish the person who had almost hurt her?
Right after this happened a bunch of guys who had been watching from outside a bar down the street came and helped me. Car glass is weird and doesn't really shatter as much as break into small pebbly segments or wider toffee size bits. Some of it had flown onto my face and I was bleeding. When I saw the blood and the guys reaction I finally realized what had happened and started to cry like a banshee. These guys from the bar were very nice and brought me water. Thanks.
W called and was there in a second. She drove my car home without the window, heat on full blast. S and N comforted me as we walked to meet J who happened to be at the party. I was freaked but relatively safe and sound.
Who is this man? If you meet anyone if the next few days with scabbed, bloody knuckles, ask if they've punched out the driver's side window of any silver Toyota Tacomas recently. Well I hope I never meet him. You either, especially if you've done something to make him angry.
Force and raw aggression are not things that are normally associated with hippie ideals but what happened last night actually reminds me of a time when my friend in college, Pete, was standing drunk on the porch outside Cafe Pongo in Tivoli, watching a fight progress inside. He kept on tapping peace signs onto the window and screaming "Peace...Peace." But he ended up applying to much force to his tapping, leaning his body into "Peace" too much and finally the whole front window shattered and the class cut up all the people who were sitting close to door. I guess Peace is not usually attained by brute force no matter how good the intention.
I got the window replaced today and my lip is going to have a thin scar underneath it. Things could have been much worse. I'm just happy to be alive and not to have killed anybody.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat's some scary shit. Man's testosterone is not to be crossed. Like that one time I was driving home when I was 16 and some middle-aged anti-hippie guy followed me because I had driven too close to him when he was jaywalking, so he got in his car and followed me home and ripped open my car door (this was in the garage in the alley) and started yelling at me. I was shocked and just said "sorry" and my brother was sitting shotgun with a stunned "wtf" look all over his teenage face, and the guy left.
I told my boss Chris at the movie theater about it and he told me to keep a metal bar under my seat in case that happens again.