new york, new york

Yesterday at dusk I was walking up Allen Street, distracted by my phone, thinking about a friend, when I saw a man walking quickly toward me. He looked deranged; he was cursing loudly; his face was twisted up into a knot of hatred. I ignored this and returned to texting.

Then the man rushed me and swung a haymaker at my head. Like, a punch. A flailing wide-armed punch aimed for my right temple. Then, despite waiting for 29 years for somebody to throw a punch at me so I would have the opportunity to try out the elbow strike to the throat defense I have often daydreamed about, I was unwilling to engage in a deathmatch with an insane person, so I ducked the punch. It whistled over my head and I kept walking. The crazy man did not follow up, and we went our separate ways.

Can you tell I'm freakishly proud of my reflexes???