alastor wrote:
At about 11:45pm on February 19, 2009, I was ascending the escalator from the Grove Street PATH Station. It was gusty and cold, so I walked quickly up the escalator. There was a heavy-set, muscular man in front of me. I politely said, "Excuse me," in order to move past him on the left. He acknowledged me and said he would not move. I consider it common courtesy to keep to the right so people can pass. When I asked again, he refused to move. I remarked that "You are lacking etiquette." I did not curse at him nor was I verbally abusive. I did not in any way touch his person. I only admonished him for his discourtesy. This man's response was to become verbally threatening. Immediately upon exiting the escalator, he gave me a powerful shove.

I considered his shove physically threatening, and the man intimated that he would escalate his violence if I talked back to him. This man was more than twice my size, and I had not physically provoked him in any way, nor had I used any foul language towards him. In some cases, the law considers such a shove an act of minor assault. I told him I was calling the police. While on the phone with the dispatcher, I followed the man for less than a block. He was moving away from me, and I didn't feel in danger. During this time, he used his cell phone to make several phone calls. I partially overheard these calls, and it sounded like he was on the phone with the police precinct and in conversation with the lieutenant on duty. His tone was familiar and friendly implying some kind ofpre-existing connection with whomever he was speaking to. He identified himself as "Nathan."

When the police arrived, one of the offices was ending a cellular call with the words, "Ok boss." I explained to one of the officers what had occurred. The officer's demeanor was gruff and agitated, bordering on unprofessional. He was more concerned with debating about what constituted appropriate escalator courtesy than the action which prompted my call--the shove. Of course, there is no way to objectively prove what happened between the man and I. My intention was not to have this man arrested. When he pushed me, I felt threatened, but even more so, I felt pushed around. It is unacceptable in our culture for strangers to touch one another in such an aggressive way. Rather than push back, I made recourse to the police who are supposed to protect the citizenry from the unwarranted physical force of others. In short, this was a matter of principle.

It was clear, however, that the two responding officers had no patience or understanding for the situation. Instead of trying to listen to my concern, I was treated with suspicion and disrespect. And it became increasingly clear to me that whatever connection this man had to the police, it was influencing my interaction with them. They seemed entirely unconcerned with even the possibility of this man's aggression towards me. Instead, they equivocated the incident by telling me the man claimed I had pushed him, although the officer who reported this hadn't even spoken with him yet. Moreover, when I suggested that this man had called their lieutenant, NeilDonnelly, they denied any knowledge of it, even though the Lt. drove directly past us and they pointed this out to me.

I asked for the officers' bade numbers, but only one of them would reveal it to me. They both became increasingly truculent, got in their patrol car, and sped away. The man who pushed me walked away cackling. Now, I realize that a rejoinder to this story may be that I was wasting police time, and, more casually, that I shouldn't have remarked on a stranger's bad manners--that I was asking for it. At the same time, I think it's pretty important that people not think that can strong-arm members of the public who verbally reproach them. Evidently, this man felt implicated to the point of having to call someone in blue.