I was reading the thread over in the Pit describing oblivious people who don’t get the hell out of your way, and it made me think of an incident yesterday.
I was eating my lunch at a sidewalk deli, purse on the ground next to me, when I noticed a guy walking along the sidewalk. He was furtively eyeing the lunchers and started unnecessarily walking circuitously in between the tables rather than continuing his way directly along the sidewalk. I promptly picked up my purse and put it in my lap while making eye contact with him. He saw me do this and exited the table area and then started walking back the way he came. I must point out that he looked pretty disreputable. If you were paying attention, you’d probably walk on the far side of the sidewalk from him.
As he walked away, I noticed beyond him a woman get out of her car, talking on the cellphone, her purse sticking temptingly out. He came alert and you could see him eyeing her and glancing around him to see if anyone else was near. Even though she was looking right in his direction, you could tell that she still didn’t notice him at all because she was completely immersed in her conversation. He then looked behind him and saw me watching him still. He changed course and walked into a parking lot out of sight.
As the woman came past me, I said, “Excuse me, but when you return to your car, you might want to keep an eye out for that guy you just passed. I think he was sizing you up to snatch your purse.” She said “Huh? What guy?” and looked at me like I was making the whole thing up.
I don’t think I’ll ever be so oblivious that I was unaware of my surroundings on a big city street. I wonder if the prevalence of cellphone and bluetooth yap-zombies has been a godsend for purse snatchers, pickpockets and rapists.
When I was in Israel last month, I saw a guy, I kid you not, riding a bicycle in a busy street, while holding in each hand a heavy bag (of soil or gravel), talking on a cell phone he was holding between his shoulder & ear, while smoking a cigarette. :eek:
He just has to replace the cigarette with something more PC like blowing bubbles or balancing a ball in his chin and he has a Cirque du soleil act all wrapped up.
Talking abou obliviousness, a few weeks ago the taxi I was riding was hit by a pedestrian, we where making a turn at (luckly) low speed and this guy completely lost in the upper reaches of the stratosphere walked right into the side of the car, smacking against the door on my side.
I passed his cousin riding home last week. One hand was busy holding his cigarette to his mouth, the other was busy trying to balance a pair of crutches he was carrying upright in the basket of his bike. When I saw that I glanced down at the pedals: sure enough, one foot was in a cast. Wonder how that happened?
Is this a hijack? I watched a guy riding his bike on the sidewalk, talking on the phone with his right hand and absent=mindedly braking with his left (the front brakes) Sure enough, he went ass-over-front and kept talking on the phone as of nothing had happened! I laughed and laughed right at him, and couldn’t help from giggling most of the way home like a crazy person. Still makes me giggle.
This brings back memories of a kid I knew in junior high. I frequently saw him engaging in two of his favorite hobbies at the same time: reading a book and riding a bike.