Sunday, June 27, 2010

Skank.

Saturday 26th, before midnight.
I ride this city at all times.
In the past 8 years of riding almost everyday and roaming the streets of San Francisco, I have seen many things and been in many situations that have certainly been scary to some degree. I had never been directly attacked, definitely not within inches, until today.

I say attacked, because I was directly approached by a violent, intoxicated young blonde skank on polk street.
As I was waiting on the light to turn green at the corner by the red devil lounge (Clay St.) I hear
"you and your fcuking blinkie lights"
When a couple of seconds after that, this crazy bitch with shiny platforms and a zebra looking skirt is running out of nowhere towards me, yelling and swinging a punch and her purse.
"i want yer bike you piece of shit biker and @*&@*^&#*(!&@#*&#@!!!
I happened to be almost ready to take off, so when this happened I pedaled towards the middle of the road, mind you there are is traffic everywhere, and get moving without thinking much other than RUNGETOUTTAHERE MELI. A few seconds after that, my raging instincts kicked in. Of course, I was sober, and able to smart out the situation to not put up a fight against some drunk person on the street. Not worth it.
But shit. I wanted to grab my u-lock from my basket, and kick the shit out of her. WTF.

I was minding my own business, I had just told a friend how upset I was the 'security' guards near civic center were not happy bikes were going through their set-up gates for pride tomorrow (one of them told me to go ride on van ness as an option.. are you f-ing kidding?!) and I was riding home and couldn't wait to get home, wash my face and get in bed. And now this.

Yeah, sure I'm fine. I'm more upset over the fact that festivities in the city always seem to attract a significant amount of out of towners and losers, who can't figure out how to handle the city. Either do a ton of drugs and drinkthemselves to shits. Or want to treat every little street, as if it is a huge boulevard. Some other things that pissed me off today were:
A herd of harleys behind me, honking incessantly for me to move out of their way on Embarcadero near the levi plaza, on my way to the Giants game. Apparently bicycle lane, reads 'motorcyle lane too' to some road illiterates.

A nasty junkie (anything they say doesn't particularly bother me) but today, was a 'find a woman with a bike and tell her nasty obsenities' day.

The lack of alternative bike lane use (it was almost entirely fenced off) for the whole section of civic center which runs for more than a few blocks around from golden gate ave. to market to van ness.

And then the skank attack.

This is my street. This is my city. I particularly ride this street perhaps most than most – at 7am, 1am, noon, anytime. I get a 'hey bike gurrrrrrrl' almost every other day from the usual trannies at the same corners around Diva's. There is no other street to get from 11/market to north point, unless I decicively choose to ride 4+miles, go on embarcadero, or further west with many, many steep hills.
Last night shortly after 11PM I was already on my way home, from my friends' house in the south of market. I had hardly anything to drink because I was quite turned off by seeing some teenagers puking their guts out on Sutter and Market earlier in the early afternoon.
This incident has not scared much at all. It pissed me off.
It will not make me ride less because of it, at all.
There is NO reason nor excuse for a person to attack another person, just because – in my case, for waiting at the red light, with all my blinkies on, my helmet, my bicycle, my route.

With the festivities of pride weekend and many other things going on in the city, be careful out there. There have been many of my friends experiencing attacks, verbal abuse, and a number of incidents on the streets. Also terrible sequence of events recently, a drunk with a car targeting cyclists [link].

Bikes & the City has always been a positive blog, because if you ever meet me, and/or know me, that is who I am. That said, had I not been riding alone tonite, this incident would have probably turned out ugly, because I don't tolerate verbal abuse and had I been at a different position, she would have probably been able to reach me and if so, make me pull my chola moves I long ago retired and claws to fight like the native California bear I am.
I'm just glad this turned out the way it did, and I am here writing this for a blog post, and not in a more complicated or nasty situation.

I respect traffic, I stop for pedestrians, I don't blow red lights.
Cars, public transportation, bicycles and pedestrians all belong on the road.
Respect each other.
♥xxo.m

40 comments:

  1. Yikes! What a crazy bitch. But it's best to let the drunk idiots be and move away fast...like you said...not worth it.

    I was spat at by a motorist last week and the crazy idiot extended his fist out of his window to try and hit me!

    Some people.

    Hope you are ok.
    Stay safe.
    xx:)

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  2. The world is rapidly becoming an example of "too many rats in a cage".
    Stay alert. Humans are not peace loving and are only occasionally peaceful.

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  3. Ooooh, that makes my blood boil. What a freak. Glad you're ok! Stay safe, and don't let the losers get you down!!

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  4. Pack up and move on over to Fort Worth. We'll help you find a cool apartment and a new job. You'll have to drink Starbucks coffee though, very few independant coffeehouses here.

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  5. I can't wrap my mind around unprovoked hostility, even unprovoked drunken hostility. I'm sorry you had that experience. I tend to react to situations like that with a level of anger and rage that is difficult to shake, which is hard to shake. We saw some pretty drunken behavior Friday night as we were returning to our hotel after the Flag Tweed Ride (not connected with our riders, I'm glad to report). I give them a lot of clearance because you never know what to expect from them.

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  6. Unreal. I am tempted to blame it on the alcohol, but booze just magnifies what was already there. It sucks having to be confront with the fact there are some awful people out there!

    I'm confident you would have kicked her ass. :)

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  7. Thanks all for your comments +sharing more of your incidents. people, I tell you.
    I'm drinking my 2nd AM coffee and thanksful that I have a community of people that are forward towards some sanity for our future.
    besos +hugs xxo.m

    RTP, dont tempt me - I have already thought of the lone star way too many times!! :D

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  8. bad experience, but try to let it go if you can- just a drunk skank...

    on the other hand, I know never to mess w/ girls on mixtes because they could start swinging their u-locks :) (not that I would)

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  9. Me alegro de que llegaras a casa vivita y coleando. Que scary!
    You did well, it's never worthy to argue with skanky drunks!
    Un fuerte abrazo!!! <3

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  10. Man, that sucks so bad... What an awful experience. I hate a-hole drunks. Stay strong...

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  11. I have an office right above the Red Devil Lounge (directly above the stage!) and I'm there late almost every night of the week, and I've noticed that over the last two years or so that this intersection has become a lot rowdier. Lots of loud, obnoxious drunks pretty much every night (plus lots of good people too just having fun).

    I'm glad that I wasn't there to witness this incident, because I would have ran to my Meli's defense, and then the guys she was probably with would have got involved and next thing you know fists are flying, bottles are smashing, trash cans hurled in the air...it would have been a blood-bath!

    Suggestion; next time something like that happens (I hope it never does!), as soon as you are safely away, get on the phone right away and call the police and report that you have been assaulted. It's probably too much to hope that they would actually send a unit out there and arrest the drunken skank (wouldn't that be sweet), but you never know, and if they get enough complaints from this neighborhood then maybe they'll start cracking down on some of these assholes.

    Keep smiling!

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  12. I'm sorry about the bad experience, but I must say you look great on SFGate today.

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  13. Meli, It's like that moral from the movie
    'Grand Canyon'
    "if you swim in the ocean enough , you are
    going to run into mister shark" but it can't
    stop you from going swimming.......
    or something like that ??
    Anyway I'm sorry it happened and I'm glad
    you are safe and un harmed.

    It would have been cool to kick that
    barracho chickas ass though.

    Cheers
    Jon C

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  14. Hi, Meli:

    I am so sorry for the rotten incident/s you experienced. I completely know what you went through; I put up with a lot of crud from motorists and weird pedestrians where I live. I definitely DO NOT live in a bike-friendly city! I've made up my mind, though, to keep on biking because, well, I love it. Trust me on this one - the idiots and nasties will get their karmic come-uppance (how do I know? I've seen it happen); your good nature, great smile and positive outlook will bring you friends, supporters and people who appreciate what you do and what you stand for. Stay safe, stay happy, and keep on biking!

    Sophie W.

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  15. Ride away fast--you did the strongest, smartest possible thing in that encounter, and got away from crazy Skank. Sending you lots of peaceful thoughts, and virtual 3pls for pondering the folly of humanity. Peaceful way is still the best way. You rode that way last night. I admire what you did, and I laugh derisively at the silly Skank who thinks she can catch meligrosa. Never gonna happen. hugs

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  16. Just can't believe some people, but I'm glad you didn't have to pull out the chola moves! Must've been pretty satisfying to speed away from her though.

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  17. CUH-RAZY person, that chick was! And you're so right about big city events attracting out-of-towners who can't handle the city. I love your positivity, by the way. Stay rad.

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  18. Gross! I'm sorry to hear this happened. I picked up on your blog (love from Scranton, Pennsylvania) because I've started biking here. No bike lanes, even. trying to work on that =) Thank you for sending positive vibes even in a negative situation. Makes me not scared to keep riding <3

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  19. Lord. Bunch of Savages in this town. Glad you're alright. Come to my july series, won't you? No cars, no traffic, just dirt, smiles and knobby tires.

    soilsaloon.com

    ps - ask the guys at the Marin SF Store how you win a free bike by a simple photo.

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  20. What a nutcase! Glad u r ok. Be safe, Meli!

    Peace :)

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  21. Glad you're ok! I always enjoy your blog so much because it is so positive and inspiring, but it's good that you put the bad out there when it happens as well. It's all part of the whole experience, but I like your attitude of not letting it stop you from going about your life as you would. Rock on! S.

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  22. Poor Meli!

    If I were there I would have had your back.

    Both those crazy bitches, they're SCARY.

    But it's okay as long as neither of us gets hit in the face. Then everybody would get to see it the next day:(

    S*

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  23. Cool heads will prevail (((I need to remember that)))

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  24. There's nothing wrong with a little rage when you are attacked without provocation. That chick deserved to have your U-lock where her teeth used to be.

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  25. <3 Meli, you are so brave and awesome and I could not be prouder of how you handled yourself. I'm sorry that there are assholes abound when it comes to riding around in ANY city. No one deserves that. I'm just so glad to know you're all right!

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  26. Crazy scary. I know how it is to encounter your "usual" frightening behavior whilst out and about on two wheels; this was just too much of too much. I'm so happy you're strong and can take it, but scary scary still.

    I had to handle a little homophobia this weekend, and also felt quite belligerent, but I just looked forward to things returning to normal and having my support network back in place.

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  27. I appreciate this aggressive and angry post because you usually are so positive and upbeat on here. Your anger shows how upset this made you. It sucks. It's hard to know what to do in situations like that. I had an extremely opposite encounter yesterday with a group of effeminate drunk gay boys. They approached me while I was stopped at a red light to tell me how much they liked my bike and to make sure I had lights for it (it was day time and my lights were in my bag!). It can go both ways, but on big weekends like this past one, you're going to get a little bit of everything.

    You're a strong woman and you'll be better prepared on how to handle it if it happens again.

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  28. amen!!! i hid from all the drunks this weekend. btw the drunk assholes screaming about world cup and the drunk outa-towners in for pride it's just unbearable. when did pride turn into mardi gras.

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  29. Of course our strong Meli can handle this.

    Here's your consolation. You're on the front page of the Sunday SF Chron - Style Section:
    http://bit.ly/bqfX2h

    Keep on Bikin'

    PH

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  30. Ugh - so lame lame LAME.

    I'm sorry Meli! I will say that I'm glad the native California bear that you are wasn't required.

    You keep rocking the positive joyous force that you also are Ms. BurgueƱo.

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  31. Wow! I read your great posts each day and have been lulled into a false sense of how great Big City life is. I suppose an occasional post like this one is needed to bring things back into perspective. But don't change, keep doing what you do best and be safe. Keep that coffee cup and beer glass half full.

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  32. WOW! A hater of blinking lights. How did she ever survive in da club? glad you made it out on the high road:)

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  33. I'm sorry Meli-G. But I am SO glad you are safe and sound. I never understand what provokes people to lash out at beautiful art, beautiful bicyclists, beautiful whatever. H has been yelled at many times on his bicycle - most recently by an overweight public transit bus driver who felt compelled to open his door and say things that were wrong to a man on a bicycle. These things make me sad, but I take hope in all the good people out there who are doing amazing things. Ride on, ride strong, stay safe.

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  34. Hindsight.
    What you would've done.
    Or 'next time'.

    But it showed who you really are.
    Someone who's not going to lash out,
    like that drunk trainwreck.

    Just shocking to see that happen to you,
    in a fairly bike accepting city.
    Had you crowned her the queen of trash with
    a u-lock though, I think we'ld understand ;)

    happy pedalling!

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  35. Skank bitch. They are everywhere and ruining things for girls (and humans) everywhere.
    Glad you didn't have to kick her ass.

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  36. I'm sorry to hear this happened to you - but glad to hear you are safe! People are crazy... but you are good to not let it effect your mentality on riding bikes. Hope this week goes much better for you <3

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  37. As a cyclist in an extremely un-bike friendly city, I definitely feel your pain.

    I'm glad you are ok and I hope all of your upcoming bike experiences will be positive!
    Thanks for all of the posts. I always enjoy reading about your adventures!

    -Erika in Halifax

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  38. Skank, indeed. Sorry to hear about that. Really shitty when out-of-towners mess up the rhythym of normal city life. I get that territorial feeling, too, especially living very close to Wrigley Field (drunk Cubs fans = nightmare). I was thinking - good for that girl that she did not run into the whole CYLRAB crew. I would not want to piss you all off together (especially Adrienne) ;)

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