I inadvertently scared a woman yesterday

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

It was around 9pm, and I had to deposit some checks at my bank. It being after-hours of course, I used my debit card to enter the ATM booth, which wasn’t huge but it had four different ATMs in it, so it wasn’t tiny either.

I hadn’t endorsed the checks yet, so I went to the counter and to my surprise (or not) there were no pens. As I cursed the bank under my breath, I turned around and saw there was only one person in there with me: a woman who looked to be in her late 50’s or so. She was using one of the ATMs. I politely (or so I thought) waited at the counter until she was done with her transaction. When she turned around, I said “Pardon me, ma’am, you wouldn’t happen to have a pen, would you?”.

She proceeded to quickly zip her purse up and say something, but it was so quiet I couldn’t tell what it was. She was looking down at her purse as she said it, and she was very meek about it. I thought maybe she was suggesting what to do about my situation, so I said, “Oh, I’m sorry?”.

With a little more determination now, having secured her purse, she looked me right in the eye and said, “No I do not. And I don’t think you should be hanging around ATMs. Now get away from me before I call the police.”

As shocked as I was (and strangely, my feelings were kind of hurt), I managed to hold up my checks and say, “I’m sorry. I was just trying to make a deposit and there are no pens here.”

She quickly shot by me and was out the door without another word. I then went outside and asked a street vendor (who, by the way, had a knife wound on his face and looked like he was missing an eye) if he had one and received a “Sure thing, buddy” and “No problem” when I returned it to him.

The thing is, I can understand where she was coming from. This is New York City, after all, and I’m sure it’s scary to be an older woman by yourself here. And I can see how someone might ask for a pen only to grab the purse that would now be exposed and opened.

On the other hand, I’m just a skinny boy from Oklahoma… I’m pretty sure I don’t give off any signs of danger, and I was holding up the two checks for her to see them. I feel bad for scaring her, but I also feel like I was somehow a victim of profiling or something… it kind of gave me a glimpse of what it must be like to be treated like that on a constant basis. Not fun.

2

Man, I wouldn’t have been so rude about it! I would have just said, “Sorry, I don’t have one” and politely left. Or, if you saw it in my hand, would have just given you the damn pen. I mean, it’s a PEN.

3

Yes, but he could have been waiting for her to step closer with the pen…and then he would have grabbed her…and overpowered her…in the ATM vestibule!!

4

Sounds hot. (Actually, it does sound like a porn movie).
Seriously, I get tired of the whole “NYers are evil” meme. (Oh, no, I used the dreaded word.) Some people in NYC are really nice. Some not so much. When you have - what is it, 18 million people? Or is it 9 million? - in ONE place, lots of whom are poor and hungry, you’re gonna have some bastards, too.

5

Yes!

In front of the security camera!

And there are guys dumb enough to do that.

6

:smack: You know, my mind was going “There’s something wrong with this picture…”
Aargh.

7

We’re trying to ship them all those types up to Albany - see how they like being Canadians.

8

The nice ones? Sure, send them our way.

The others? Send them too - let them freeze!

9

No, no, National Talk Like a Pirate Day is in a couple weeks.

10

I don’t understand her reaction. She had the pen after all. He had two cheques and the ‘pen is mightier than the sword’. What chance did he have against a sword wielding maniac in a confined space.

As for the guy who had the facial scar and the middle aged woman. ‘Fair is foul and foul is fair’ perhaps would apply well here.

11

I don’t know, man. Paper cuts hurt.

12

I don’t know…if I were 50 years old and alone in a vesibule with a man and no one around and he asked for a pen, I might be a little frightened too. Ted Bundy gave off sweet and innocent vibes but that didn’t stop him from killing all of those people, you know? I would probably just say that I didn’t have a pen and keep going though rather than screaming and making myself look all insane.

13

Plus, of course, a pen jammed into the carotid artery is a way to die quick enough she probably couldn’t get help but slow enough she could feel it.

That said, I do feel sorry for her. She’s a prisoner to her own inability to reasonably compute risks.

14

"I was that woman " [not the OP] but the first time I ever used an ATM I stepped back and heard a voice say something - I nearly emptied my bowel draws veil over what the bladder did I’m not sure if I screamed or not… I turned to see a skinny well dressed woman looking at me like I was a bag of tripe. She wasn’t attempting to mug me, merely asking directions to somewhere - I was so shocked I couldn’t speak … she decided I was not worthy of her attention and stalked off, leaving me hyperventilating

So don’t ever approach someone at an ATM - you know you’re only asking for a pen, they have no clue what you want and have just withdrawn cash from a machine…