Crazy Beggar Woman Lobs Trash at Me & Herbie...
 

Some nights commuting home go better than others...

I have no idea why this woman was digging in the trash as I passed, and lobbed a big hunk of *SOMETHING* organic looking, right at me. I watched whatever it was, fly past my face. Was the motivation for this simply 'cause I was there? 'Cause I was on a Segway??? Maybe a mental hospital dumped her off in the area?

I quickly stopped Herbie and turned around, looking her in the eyes and yelled, "Why did you DO THAT?" She turned and fled, running into the grass, thinking I couldn't follow. I rolled to the edge and stopped. "Get away from me!" she yelled. Then I pulled into the grass... "Why did you DO THAT?" I questioned while slowly rolling twards her.

"What, you going to mace me?" she asked. I slowly gained on her in the grass.

"Why did you DO THAT?"

She appeared to panic, then ran screaming twards a couple on the boardwalk, "Ahhh! Help me! Call the Police! Someone help me!"

"I'll be HAPPY to call the police and HAVE THEM REMOVE YOU from the boardwalk," I said, as I rolled up to her and her unwilling protectors. "Why did you DO THAT? "

"Okay, OKAY! I apologize!"

"For WHAT? WHY are you apologizing? Do you even KNOW what you did???"

*pant pant* "I just said it to get you away from me," she hissed.

No duh, I thought.

"You want me to call the police and have them forcibly remove you? Should I call 911 and have them take you out of here RIGHT NOW for what you did?"

Crazy trash throwing woman bolts from the stunned people she's been unsuccessfully trying to hide behind, but I've kept pace orbiting her from the opposite side of the couple she's been using as a barrier, keeping eye contact with her the entire time. She enters the open street and yells "Police! Help me!" while she jogs into the center of the road.

"Don't ever throw ANYTHING AT ANYONE EVER AGAIN!" I yelled after her. The street echoed my anger while strangers stared.

And I went home...

SEGsby

I was once hit on the leg by a tennis ball fairly hard, as I was gliding past some tennis courts. I thought since I was on the other side of the road to the courts, and they were laid out lengthways perpendicular to me, so it would be very difficult for a stray ball to be accidentally hit so hard sideways off a court, that someone had seen me and decided to take a shot.

My immediate reaction at the time was to avoid the wheels from going over the ball without slowing much, and to look over at the courts and say "nice shot!". I guess I would have only taken umbridge if it had knocked me off/unbalanced me. As it was I'm thinking they were astounded that didn't happen.

SEGsby,

The Venice boardwalk attracts about 300 homeless transients nightly. Someone digging through the trash is not a rational person. Any conversation beyond "CUT IT OUT", was wasted on her, I'm sure.

Tim

You can never be sure. Quite possibly, the next time she runs for re-election, she will consider this event.

From what I've seen, many people dig in the trash for entirely practical reasons:

1. Food (These people are really bad off)
2. Money, by collecting cans and recycling them. (These people are slightly better off, generally speaking)
3. Looking for cool stuff people throw away (less common)

I see nothing irrational about those activities.

But throwing trash at visitors, is common for primates in zoo's. It's a primitive, aggressive response to something new in their environment. And yes, you are correct. I completely wasted my time trying to get a rational explanation for her actions.

It's not the first thing thrown at me on a Segway, it's not going to be the last. But I am getting tired of all the retards...

SEGsgy

I'm sorry that happened to you. :( I can sympathize.

One day, I rode past a park where guys were playing soccer. The ball slammed into the metal fence right next to me as I rode by. I stopped, looked, and saw they were all laughing. One of them retrieved the ball and kicked it directly at me again. It too, smacked against the fence, exactly where I was, and rolled back to them. As I stared in shock, they lost interest and continued to play.

There was no direct access to the playfield from where I was, so I rolled around to the back entrance and entered the park. Transitioning onto the grass, they all pretended to ignore me as I neared them. I parked by the stands, to watch with the rest of the non-players. Not one of them would make eye contact, but they looked uncomfortable. I watched them play for 15 minutes, then departed slowly.

There were no more balls being kicked at me when I left.

SEGsby

Yeah, we're sorta at risk from adolescents (whose brains are not fully developed, and who may try to make points with their friends by inappropriate behavior) and the mentally ill. A lot of the people who are homeless are that way because they're mentally ill. On the streets and off their meds. I know the stereotype is white alchoholic, but that's simply the stereotype.
Pam

I know it may seem like a good idea to chase these people down and admonish them, but once they've disengaged combat, you should as well. While you're chasing someone a number of things happen psychologically to them and you that can lead to an overall loss of your awareness of your surroundings. There's nothing you can say to them they don't already know and it's entirely possible you're putting yourself in far greater danger by chasing them.

That was completely uncalledfor to throw trash. It's a shame as well because she may have been able to have a decent conversation with you instead. I find that there is a great misunderstanding of the homeless. Many think that people are homeless because it is there fault when in fact it is not always that way. Many things can happen to ordinary hard working (and sometimes middle to middle upper class) people that can lead them to this fate. Many things could happen that are not neccessarily your fault but can leave you homeless and it could happen literally to anyone here or anywhere. The sad part about homelessness is that once you've been homeless for a while you can literally be driven mentally insane. Homelessness (especially if it is not your fault) can cause you to no longer be able to think for yourself. Not to mention it is difficult to do anything for yourself work wise because without an address you cannot get a job legally! I agree it was not right for her to lob trash at you but on the other hand maybe you should be sympathetic and maybe think that she probably could not think for herself. It may be difficult to understand until you have been there though! From age 12-13 me, my brother, my sister, and my mom were all living in a van in MN. The van had no heat so winter was especially harsh. We would stop and stand in gas stations until someone kicked us out just to heat up. It was warmer to sleep outside in a tent than in the van so that is what we did. My mom would go out every day looking for someone to give her a job without an address and us kids would go out every day looking for food! Luckily we never got to the point where we could not think for ourselves but we knew several who did. What the lady did was not right but instead of criticizing her maybe we should try to gain an understanding and possibly reach out to help her because it's quite possible that it is not her fault she is homeless, that she just ran across some bad luck.


Jeremy Ryan

I must agree with the general consensus that the woman suffered from some sort of mental illness.