Welcome, Anthony Rapp! (part three) — Page 82

I just sat down next to some people that looked equally scared, I figured if we were all in a group it was safer.
I always keep my headphones on when I'm downtown, that way people don't talk to me, they're not always on.
I would get so lost in NYC, I don't know if it's better to have numbers or street names. It seems like it would get confusing with numbers trying to remember where you're going, but easier to figure out how far to go.

I do that ALL the time.

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You do have to be careful with that, though, because some people will go after those who appear to be distracted, whether it be with headphones or a cell or whatever.

But then it's even better, because you aren't distracted and they think you are. Seriously, I've never been in a completely scary situation like that. I don't have serious issues with Port Authority, but I can see how some people would freak out.

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I actually had an amusing experience along those lines recently. I tend to be in the City until 1-2AM on Thursdays. Usually I park on the street around 9th or 10th Avenues. Times Square still has quite a bit of traffic even that late so I don't usually feel scared. However, I always get a little jumpy if no one is around or if someone is passing me, or behind me or something. So one night recently, this guy was walking towards me, and I realized there was no one else around. I kept turning around to see if any cars were passing. As the guy passed me, he noticed what I was doing. He chuckled and said "don't worry, you're safe" and smiled as he passed me.

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I'm such a softie tourist when it comes to the homeless. I ALWAYS give money.

I think my city has the NICEST homeless people. I try to walk around with change in my pocket as often as I can. At Christmastime, there was this woman singing carols on the street every day.

There WAS this one guy who cursed like crazy if you walked by him without acknowledging him, though. I always crossed the street if I could. Eek.

I also don't carry around change, it's mostly debit. And as a poor student, I'm cheap, I need my money.

I feel completely safe in Peterborough, it's a small town. But there have been a couple times I've been walking downtown on a pub night that have been a little upsetting. Once I was trying to find my friend (we said we'd meet on a large street, but nothing more specific than that), and these two guys were walking slow, so they told me to walk between them. I walked around them. Another night, I was walking back home, in a skirt, and this guy was hitting on me. Normally that's flattering, but not when you're pissed at the world and just want to go home, and now this drunk guy likes your smile.

They're so many of them! And of course, we're all probably their main target age. I always swivel my way in and out to avoid them.

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Exactly Skittles! And they don't give up! Sometimes they'll follow you all the way down the block bugging you. Or if you try to say "no, thank you," they'll be like "why not? Don't you like to laugh?" and the like. Sometimes they'll offer me a pass to an R&B event and if I say no, they expect me to verbalize a 500-page essay on why I don't want to go/why I don't like R&B.

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There was this guy once asking us for money while we were standing in line for a bar. He then explained this mixture that tastes just like pot. That really made me want to give him money.

When I went to the city with 3 of my friends he asked where we were from and we all said NY, then he's like "Oh, where in New York?" And I guess our parents taught us well becuase we all gave the same kind of "Umm, well, uhhhh..." type answer, until he said he was also from New York and named the town he was from. I guess we still shouldn't have told him but one of my friends just blurbed it out. Some homeless people are very mean. There was one woman who seriously came up to my friends and me and was like "I'm a human too! You don't think I have needs...etc. etc.," right in our faces.