WHAT DO GONZO BEANS LOOK LIKE?
Like this:
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In other interesting news, I was accosted by a panhandler yesterday. In general, I don't mind being panhandled. I grew up outside Washington, DC, and it was a fairly regular occurrance. I'm used to it. I don't, as a rule, give anyone any money, but as long as I can walk away, it doesn't bother me. What does bother me is being panhandled at red lights. I am deeply discomfited by being cornered in my car with no place to go.
Wilmingtonians may know the person I am talking about. She stays at the corner of Dawson and 5th Street, tapping on the windows of all the cars waiting at that (nortoriously long) light. This woman is ALWAYS out there. I've been seeing her there for 3 years at least. And she's very, very pushy, the type who, if you refuse her money, will start asking for the things she can see in your car. My mother-in-law reported to me that she ran into the woman at Burger King and the woman was demanding water from a kid's cup.
I've been very clear with this woman in the past. I asked her to please look at me and look at my car (you know the one: covered in polka dots). Remember me, I said. I'm never going to give you anything. Leave me alone. And she has, for almost 2 years now.
Yesterday, as I was driving home, I was sitting at the light when the woman emerged from the shrubbery and came toward the car. I calmly reached over my left shoulder and hit the automatic locks. And she just freaked, beating on my car and screaming that I'd better watch for that light to change, that I had better hope that light changed soon, etc. Oddly, she called me "baby girl" as she shreiked at me. In my loudest and most authorative teacher voice I yelled, GET OFF MY CAR. She backed up, still screaming, the light changed and I drove away. But it scared the crap out of me. I don't want to go through that intersection anymore.
So, anyway, my dad is here, and he came to visit me at school today and met my kids, which is great, because no one has ever met my kids before. He brought pictures of me so that they could see what Miss Meg looked like when she was a little girl. They loved it.
10 comments:
oh, that is really scary. funny..since i lived in nyc for so long, people walking up to me don't bother me, but if someone came up to my car, i think i would lose it. it just feels...i guess like you are trapped in there! at least walking on the street there are other people or stores, or youc an run. yikes. i hope she stays away from you!
oh, that is really scary. funny..since i lived in nyc for so long, people walking up to me don't bother me, but if someone came up to my car, i think i would lose it. it just feels...i guess like you are trapped in there! at least walking on the street there are other people or stores, or youc an run. yikes. i hope she stays away from you!
i don't know the woman... and it's probably a good thing. your story makes me want to go whip her ass for you. holy hell. walking down the sidewalk is one thing but like that... way discomforting.
I am SO GLAD that woman wasn't there when I was there, or I would have lost my mind and become a shut-in. Growing up in Aurora, Ohio doesn't exactly innoculate you against panhandler freakouts.
Although once, when I was about ten, my dad and I were walking in downtown Cleveland, a homeless person pointed at me and yelled FORNICATOR! That was the day I learned what a fornicator was.
She was actually hitting your car?? Yikes! And how sad...
that's really quite scary. sheesh. i think that's the point, unfortunately, where police really have to intervene or something. no reason you should be afraid to go through that intersection.
I'm amazed that you kept your wits about you. I would've probably started to cry!
I totally remember that woman. I never had an up-close encounter with her before, but I'd occasionally see her when driving to the grocery story. Definitely one that encouraged me to hit the gas extra hard, you know? ... Shudder. So sorry that happened to you!
Oh man, I have been harassed by a homeless person before and it left me uncomfortable for days after.
I'm sorry that she did that, sometimes they pick people that they think they will be able to intimidate.
there's homeless, and then there's just plain crazy. good for you for yelling at her. that totally would have freaked me out.
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