Unexpected reactions.

I’ve lived in a large, urban city for quite a while, and few things really have the power to surprise me. Also, as a single woman, I do my best to take all precautions to protect myself and be safe at all times.

There are still those moments when your guard is completely down and urban life comes back and smacks you in the face… or puts its hands on you unexpectedly.

Last weekend, after a long night of board games and pumpkin cheesecake, I left my friend’s house in Crystal City and made the late-night journey back to Woodley Park, via Gallery-Place Chinatown.

While this is one of the more lively metro stations late at night, I still feel quite comfortable sitting on a bench, with my headphones on, drowning out the world at 1:30 AM. Most people on the metro respect the headphones and don’t attempt to talk to you, but there are always those who go against the norms.

The 17-minute wait for the next Red Line train acquainted me with nearly every type of Washingtonian: the underage drinkers stumbling their way back to American, the preppy kids wearing their brown flip-flops and North Face jackets in December, the hipsters on their way to Adams Morgan (I guess I’m included in that group), the out-of-towners who should’ve been back at their hotel much earlier, and the homeless man betting on the odds that one of them will be generous and help him with a dollar or two.

Eight minutes to go and the homeless man approached my bench. Neither of my two bench mates obliged the homeless man. He stepped away for a few seconds and I thought I was in the clear so I nuzzled into my scarf a little more. At that moment, the man decided that, if I couldn’t hear him over my headphones, he was going to put both his hands on my shoulders to get my attention. Boy, did it ever.

I’ve been riding the metro late at night for years and have never had this happen to me. For some reason, the only startled reaction I had was to shot out, “NO!”

What are you supposed to do in that situation? If I didn’t have headphones in, I would’ve politely said, “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything on me,” and my night would’ve been completely unmemorable. Instead, this unexpected reaction to his unexpected action makes me feel both guilty and violated to this day.