Was on BART two days ago with my ebike and nearly got robbed, again.
On the San Francisco/Milbrea train, roughly 1700 hours I boarded a nearly empty car (second from lead car) at the Richmond station. I secured my ebike and took a seat nearby. As the train departed, a Caucasian or Latino male entered the car and slowly shambled past me and my bike to the front. He looked to be a homeless drug addict. The man was followed by a smaller Latino male who took a seat at the opposite end of the car behind me. There was also a Caucasian man in the car with us however, I did not notice him until he got off the train with me. I immediately felt uneasy when I saw him disembark too.
The drug addict milled around, went to the next car (lead car) and came back into my car before finally taking a seat at the opposite end from me, facing me. Both ends and the middle were these men positioned, one addict, one boy and one nerd.
At the El Cerrito DelNorte station I went to the door when it opened and stood at the jamb (side) to expectorate since I’m constantly inhaling noxious gases that must be expelled (no touch torture), which can be explained in my other blog. As I turned back to the interior of the car, I was surprised to see the shambling addict had positioned himself almost directly behind me, having moved very swiftly from the opposite end of the car. This startled me, as he also quickly turned away from me. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing at the moment but decided to disembark at the next stop to catch another train just to be safe. When I got up to leave I looked him directly in the face and he had a desperate look letting out an audible sigh. I determined that if he disembarked with me that I would be ready to defend myself.
The addict did not get off but the older nerd did and stood in place just as I did while the train departed. normally, when a person disembarkes they start heading for the exit, right? Not this guy, he stayed right were he was and just kind of milled around, we were the only two people on the platform. I’m now staring at him as he lingers with a firm grip on my bike. Uh, oh, I think to myself, was this guy with the other two gone on?
So this older nerdy white Guy is just walking in circles about fifteen feet away from me, at the far end of the station, no train in sight, blocking my egress and periodically smiling. Do I jump? Too high. Do I leave the bike and run down the tracks? Will he attempt to throw me from the platform to my death? Does he have a knife or a gun? I begin to panic just a little. Almost as if he sensed my fight or flight anxiety, he turns and slowly walks away towards the platform exit fifty feet away. He does not exit. The next train arrives ten minutes later and it is for Berryessa, not San Francisco. The nerd then walks all the way back to the same spot where he got off and reboards, I do not, I want this guy gone from me. finally, I begin to relax a little, I am alone. The next train to arrive ten minutes later is a San Francisco train which I board. A harrowing twenty minutes wasted.
My analysis. is that either the nerd saw the addict swiftly creep up on me and deemed the situation unsafe just as I did or, he may very well have been part of the robbery crew and was hoping to continue on with me as observer, to spot for a second team. Another homeless man did get on the train I finally boarded and sit suspiciously across the isle from me, but there were many people around unlike previously. had I not moved back to my seat well before the train doors closed after spitting, the addict intended to push me out of the car just as the doors closed with my ebike still inside. The train would have departed with him/them and my bicycle. That bike is all I own.
I’m gonna say this and I hope you can understand, I have been pushed to my limits. I am going to arm myself and defend with deadly force.if necessary, the very next time I am assaulted. I hate it, I wish there were another way but what am I supposed to do, let myself be robbed or killed? What would you do?
All Star Activist 2 