Public transportation harassment
During my two previous stays in Lyon, for a total of six months, I was only harassed once on the public transportation system.* But this time around it seems like a regular affair and Christian and I are surprised we're being targeted.
Monday 2/16. Tram station at Part Dieu -- we were waiting there with our hands full of new purchases for our apartment, including pots, dish rack, kitchen towels, etc. This guy stumbles across the platform and lunges towards us. At first I thought he had just lost his balance, but then he lunges again, trying to pull a bathroom rug out of Christian's bag. Christian pulls away. Then he tries to grab the pot out of my hand. I got enraged that he would try to steal from us so I start waving this pot in the air at him, yelling "Ne volez pas!" = "Don't steal!" and he goes off calling *us* the thieves, part of the society that tramples people like him, blah blah blah. I really wanted to hit him with the damn pot. He got on the tram but at a different door, so we didn't have to put up with him on the tram ride. We've encountered him again at Guillotiere tram station, which is his haunt and he's always there drinking and causing trouble. It's annoying having to avoid him, but at least he doesn't seem to remember us.
Tuesday 2/17. Subway station, Bellecour. We were bringing all our suitcases to our new apartment, and I guess if you're traveling public transportation with a lot of stuff that makes you a magnet for assholes to come bother you. This guy walks up to us, snickering and introducing himself and saying we're cool guys. He was hovering really close and quite obviously on some drug, like E or something. We ignore him, but he keeps circling near us. We get on the train when it arrives and first he boards and sits down a few seats away, but then he gets up and starts hovering near us more, snickering. Christian gets fed up and yells out "Monsieur!!", which gets the attention of everyone on the train. He starts getting all offended and mocking the politeness of the address, so I say "laisse nous en paix = leave us in peace" and he goes off about how we think he's a terrorist because he's Arab, and he starts calling us fags, etc. Finally he pisses off at the next station. The experience made us wish French classes/books would tell you how to flip someone off, because every way we knew of expressing ourselves was far too polite for that situation.
Monday 2/23. Subway going home from Bellecour. We were on the train and as it pulls into Saxe-Gambetta, an Arab guy comes from the other end of our car, turns around to look directly at me and starts muttering something through the scarf raised over his mouth. The whole time he's giving me the finger and at first I didn't think he was talking to me because we had had no contact prior to that moment, so what had I done to give him beef? But he kept staring straight at me while muttering something about me stinking of pork... We were so confused that we had no time to react before the guy left the car and the doors closed. Nobody else batted an eye. The only explanation we could come up with was that the guy thought I was Jewish and had some anti-Semitic streak to him?
Post-analysis, March 8: We've talked to some French friends about this. The first guy was just picking on us because we were American (he probably heard us speaking English quietly) and had gone shopping, so out comes his drunken, anti-American, anti-consumerist blame for all his homeless problems, etc. The second guy was drugged and maybe in the closet, with drugs being his way of letting go of his inhibitions and he picked up that we were gay. The third guy we've heard mixed analysis about. One person said the pork comment was just a very common insult for Arabs to issue to Whites, because pork is disgusting to them and Whites are disgusting, so whites must be disgusting because they eat pork. A gay friend said that it was more because he picked up that the two of us were gay and wanted to hurl an insult for that reason. The friend said the best response is to be silent or just say "Oh yes, I love pork! It's delicious!", but don't be confrontational because he's looking for a fight. At least we haven't had any experiences since then, but admittedly we haven't been taking the public transportation as a pair much since then either.
*This was by a couple of young guys that were first hitting on this pretty girl. Their pickup line was to guess her ethnicity but after a few failed guesses, they just started naming random countries. She got off and then after that they turned to me and started trying to guess my ethnicity in the same stupid way. My stop was only a little bit further, so the harassment was light and limited.
Monday 2/16. Tram station at Part Dieu -- we were waiting there with our hands full of new purchases for our apartment, including pots, dish rack, kitchen towels, etc. This guy stumbles across the platform and lunges towards us. At first I thought he had just lost his balance, but then he lunges again, trying to pull a bathroom rug out of Christian's bag. Christian pulls away. Then he tries to grab the pot out of my hand. I got enraged that he would try to steal from us so I start waving this pot in the air at him, yelling "Ne volez pas!" = "Don't steal!" and he goes off calling *us* the thieves, part of the society that tramples people like him, blah blah blah. I really wanted to hit him with the damn pot. He got on the tram but at a different door, so we didn't have to put up with him on the tram ride. We've encountered him again at Guillotiere tram station, which is his haunt and he's always there drinking and causing trouble. It's annoying having to avoid him, but at least he doesn't seem to remember us.
Tuesday 2/17. Subway station, Bellecour. We were bringing all our suitcases to our new apartment, and I guess if you're traveling public transportation with a lot of stuff that makes you a magnet for assholes to come bother you. This guy walks up to us, snickering and introducing himself and saying we're cool guys. He was hovering really close and quite obviously on some drug, like E or something. We ignore him, but he keeps circling near us. We get on the train when it arrives and first he boards and sits down a few seats away, but then he gets up and starts hovering near us more, snickering. Christian gets fed up and yells out "Monsieur!!", which gets the attention of everyone on the train. He starts getting all offended and mocking the politeness of the address, so I say "laisse nous en paix = leave us in peace" and he goes off about how we think he's a terrorist because he's Arab, and he starts calling us fags, etc. Finally he pisses off at the next station. The experience made us wish French classes/books would tell you how to flip someone off, because every way we knew of expressing ourselves was far too polite for that situation.
Monday 2/23. Subway going home from Bellecour. We were on the train and as it pulls into Saxe-Gambetta, an Arab guy comes from the other end of our car, turns around to look directly at me and starts muttering something through the scarf raised over his mouth. The whole time he's giving me the finger and at first I didn't think he was talking to me because we had had no contact prior to that moment, so what had I done to give him beef? But he kept staring straight at me while muttering something about me stinking of pork... We were so confused that we had no time to react before the guy left the car and the doors closed. Nobody else batted an eye. The only explanation we could come up with was that the guy thought I was Jewish and had some anti-Semitic streak to him?
Post-analysis, March 8: We've talked to some French friends about this. The first guy was just picking on us because we were American (he probably heard us speaking English quietly) and had gone shopping, so out comes his drunken, anti-American, anti-consumerist blame for all his homeless problems, etc. The second guy was drugged and maybe in the closet, with drugs being his way of letting go of his inhibitions and he picked up that we were gay. The third guy we've heard mixed analysis about. One person said the pork comment was just a very common insult for Arabs to issue to Whites, because pork is disgusting to them and Whites are disgusting, so whites must be disgusting because they eat pork. A gay friend said that it was more because he picked up that the two of us were gay and wanted to hurl an insult for that reason. The friend said the best response is to be silent or just say "Oh yes, I love pork! It's delicious!", but don't be confrontational because he's looking for a fight. At least we haven't had any experiences since then, but admittedly we haven't been taking the public transportation as a pair much since then either.
*This was by a couple of young guys that were first hitting on this pretty girl. Their pickup line was to guess her ethnicity but after a few failed guesses, they just started naming random countries. She got off and then after that they turned to me and started trying to guess my ethnicity in the same stupid way. My stop was only a little bit further, so the harassment was light and limited.