In the beginning of the semester, a policeman came to talk to our program about safety in the city. Many of the tips and examples he gave us seemed kind of silly, and I really never thought any of those things would actually happen in front of my eyes.
On Wednesday, while I was riding the 1/9 subway on my way to the Lincoln Center to see the Opera, I witnessed what I thought was unlikely in the beginning of the semester. I was sitting on the benches in the train when two men walked in and took a seat across from me. Having nothing to look at, I chose them as my objects of distraction. They were laughing and whispering in each other's ears. I could tell by their actions that one of the men was telling the other man to check out one of the women standing by the door. At first, I simply thought that they considered her to be attractive. The subsequent scene proved me wrong. When we came to the next stop, I nonchalantly got up to exit, and there was a bit of a line to step off the train. The next thing I knew, there was a rustle at the door and the two men who were sitting across from me were racing away from the train and a woman was cursing at the top of her lungs. I realized what had happened before my eyes; the two men were eyeing this woman's necklace while they were sitting across from me and were plotting a way to steal it. Their plan was to grab it straight off her neck at the next train stop, and it's exactly what they did. I was surprised at the woman's reaction. Although she swore, she was very calm and just stood there. The robbers failed to capture the charm that was attached, so at least the woman could salvage a part of her necklace.
After this all occurred, I looked down at my purse and realized how lightly I was holding onto it, and how easy it would have been for someone to snatch it straight out of my hands and run. This incident has really made me more conscious of some of the violence that can occur while living it a big city. Contrary to what I thought in the beginning of the semester, the examples the police officer demonstrated can actually happen in everyday life.
