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The other evening, I had to hurry to catch the bus before it left the stop. In retrospect, it would have been better if I'd caught the next one.
I made it aboard with my groceries, found a seat, and relaxed. For about thirty seconds.
Some guy was standing with his friend near the middle doors. He was a rather hefty sort, and he was talking loudly. At first, I chalked it up to inebriation. Then, I realized he was verbally abusing a woman sitting near him. His friend kept trying to get him to quiet down, but he was having none of it.
The stop after the one where I boarded is some distance from the first stop. As we rolled down the street, he became louder and more abusive. The word "cunt" was hurled at the woman - as far as I could tell, her unforgivable sin was simply that she was there. I glanced at Psycho, and he did look scary. His eyes just had that look.
I knew that this guy wasn't going to stop what he was doing (and kudos to his friend, who actually put a hand gently over Psycho's mouth at one point), and I had visions of the bus stopping at the next stop, the driver calling the cops, and the rest of us sitting there while we waited for them to show up and deal with him. Meanwhile, Psycho was getting louder and more out of hand. A woman standing nearby (I don't know if she knew Psycho, or if she was a brave woman who wasn't afraid to stand up to him) was telling him to calm down.
What happened then was nothing short of miraculous, in my opinion.
We approached a side street. People were setting up a stage in the side street. And who else was there? Why, several representatives of the city's finest!
The driver stopped and opened the front door. He caught the attention of the police, and began to talk to them: "Excuse me, can some police officers..."
Psycho began mimicking him: "Excuse me, can some police officers..."
Ah, nuts AND stupid! What a combination!
As this was going on, another passenger made his way from the front of the bus to the back (my guess is that he had informed the driver of Psycho's behavior, and was going back to his own seat). As he passed Psycho, Psycho lashed out and pushed the guy's head back with one hand under his chin, knocking his glasses off. The other guy promptly fought back, putting one arm across Psycho's throat and pushing him against the window of the bus.
Two cops boarded the bus to see a skirmish involving Psycho, the other guy, Psycho's friend (trying to calm him down), and the woman (also trying to calm him down while holding her daughter's play stroller). Shouts of "Calm down! Stop it!" were complemented by the daughter crying in fear.
So, the cops took Psycho off the bus, and to my surprise, he went quietly. The guy he attacked also got off and approached the cops. As we pulled away, I could see Psycho talking to the cops with an I'm-so-put-upon expression on his face.
There have been many times when I wanted a police officer nearby. And here, it happened!
I made it aboard with my groceries, found a seat, and relaxed. For about thirty seconds.
Some guy was standing with his friend near the middle doors. He was a rather hefty sort, and he was talking loudly. At first, I chalked it up to inebriation. Then, I realized he was verbally abusing a woman sitting near him. His friend kept trying to get him to quiet down, but he was having none of it.
The stop after the one where I boarded is some distance from the first stop. As we rolled down the street, he became louder and more abusive. The word "cunt" was hurled at the woman - as far as I could tell, her unforgivable sin was simply that she was there. I glanced at Psycho, and he did look scary. His eyes just had that look.
I knew that this guy wasn't going to stop what he was doing (and kudos to his friend, who actually put a hand gently over Psycho's mouth at one point), and I had visions of the bus stopping at the next stop, the driver calling the cops, and the rest of us sitting there while we waited for them to show up and deal with him. Meanwhile, Psycho was getting louder and more out of hand. A woman standing nearby (I don't know if she knew Psycho, or if she was a brave woman who wasn't afraid to stand up to him) was telling him to calm down.
What happened then was nothing short of miraculous, in my opinion.
We approached a side street. People were setting up a stage in the side street. And who else was there? Why, several representatives of the city's finest!
The driver stopped and opened the front door. He caught the attention of the police, and began to talk to them: "Excuse me, can some police officers..."
Psycho began mimicking him: "Excuse me, can some police officers..."
Ah, nuts AND stupid! What a combination!
As this was going on, another passenger made his way from the front of the bus to the back (my guess is that he had informed the driver of Psycho's behavior, and was going back to his own seat). As he passed Psycho, Psycho lashed out and pushed the guy's head back with one hand under his chin, knocking his glasses off. The other guy promptly fought back, putting one arm across Psycho's throat and pushing him against the window of the bus.
Two cops boarded the bus to see a skirmish involving Psycho, the other guy, Psycho's friend (trying to calm him down), and the woman (also trying to calm him down while holding her daughter's play stroller). Shouts of "Calm down! Stop it!" were complemented by the daughter crying in fear.
So, the cops took Psycho off the bus, and to my surprise, he went quietly. The guy he attacked also got off and approached the cops. As we pulled away, I could see Psycho talking to the cops with an I'm-so-put-upon expression on his face.
There have been many times when I wanted a police officer nearby. And here, it happened!
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