On Wednesday night, there was a shut-down on the Sky Train service. The entire transit system was closed for an hour right at rush hour. I was stranded at my SkyTrain station. The crowds continued to build as more and more people arrived for their train. Usually the trains leave every 2-3 minutes (full) so you can imagine the sheer numbers of people waiting at each station. While I waited, I was listening to my iPod and generally trying to keep from the massive crowd near the stairs. A guy about 40 came over and started to talk. He was Indian and had a thick accent so I assumed he didn’t know the proper etiquette that states “Thou shalt not try to start a conversation with a total stranger” and it’s equally important addendum “Especially with said-person has headphones on. That means they don’t want to talk to anyone, least of all a stranger.” So I just nodded occasionally and smiled when he complained about the service, trying to shut it down with my body language. Eventually the train that was stuffed full of people shut its doors and took off down the track. The next train pulled up and there was a massive crush of people to get onto it. I was swept into the crowd and pushed into the train. It was insane. I couldn’t move or hardly breathe as more than 40 people crammed into an area meant for 5-10 skinny people. Soon I felt this man behind me. He had pushed over to my back. He put his hand on my arm and left it there. I kept trying to move my arm, even turning around to say “Excuse me, move your hand.” but he just grinned and gestured like “I’m stuck.” I once again figured it must be a cultural thing and maybe he didn’t know the top rule which is “Thou shalt not ever touch anyone else.” After 10 minutes of this, I was very uncomfortable. Then there was an announcement that the trains were shut down again and we would be another 30 minutes waiting to go. Evidently translating this as the “perfect opportunity” as I was trapped, this man slid his arm around my waist, just under my breasts and pressed his p*nis up against my bum while he moved against me.
I whipped around (no small feat when you can’t move or breathe) and swung my arm around, elbows up, to catch him just below his throat. I said loudly “I’m getting off this train. Get your hands off me.” And I pushed off the train. He appeared to be trying to follow me and so I walked quickly to another train departing on another platform and jumped on just as the doors were closing. I rode the train to the end of the line before disembarking and getting on the right train to go home (finally).
The thing that bothered me is that there was no security there. They had this major incident and no crowd control. Someone could have gotten crushed. And I’m sure I wasn’t the only one groped in close quarters that day. Is there some sort of Batman-type signal for pervies to show up when the SkyTrain shuts down? Evidently I’m unaware.
And the next morning, I got back on the train. There’s no way to report it. “Oh, this guy I can’t really identify pushed against my bum and tried to grab my breasts.” “What does he look like?” “Um, he’s forty with a strong south asian accent.” Great. That narrows down about a million people…
I’m surprised by how much it bothered me. I felt – and feel – rather disgusting.
