Shysterb Commands...
... and I must obey.
In this post shysterb quotes a T/F quiz question that I wrote on Facebook. (Isn't quoting something from Facebook in a Livejournal entry going to cause a singularity?) It says: "I once warned off a small group of drunk men in New Zealand by faking a Brooklyn accent."
In 1994 I abandoned my children to go to New Zealand on a whim (and a plane) for two weeks to visit one of my invisible Internet friends. We hit the road for most of that time; it was early May and winter was a-comin' in, but winter in NZ is different from winter in western NY, so all was well. We went lots of places and saw lots of things, and found ourselves one windy cold evening in the coastal town of Napier. There wasn't a lot going on in the dark streets of Napier, but we found a restaurant and then went for a stroll. My companion took a few minutes to duck into a public convenience, and I just hung out on the sidewalk waiting. Well, I was thinner then, and had long hair; I could have passed for younger than 41 under a streetlight, where I happened to be. Along came a group of young men, clearly the worse for an evening spent propping up a bar, and, seeing me alone on the sidewalk, speculated aloud that I might like some company. I have no idea what their intentions were, although I didn't feel any real sense of menace. If I had, I might have reacted differently, but as it was, I bellowed "Wha', yoo talkina ME?" in my best Travis Bickle/Randi Rhodes imitation. They stopped dead. "Yoo got sumpina SAY?" I demanded, fists on hips. "Uh, no. No." They turned and wove off in the direction whence they'd come.
My companion was not happy when I told him about it, and I know it could have turned out badly, but I am a firm believer that not looking like a victim is a good strategy for not becoming one.
Anyway, that's how a bad Noo Yawk accent scared off a bunch of hoons Down Undah.
In this post shysterb quotes a T/F quiz question that I wrote on Facebook. (Isn't quoting something from Facebook in a Livejournal entry going to cause a singularity?) It says: "I once warned off a small group of drunk men in New Zealand by faking a Brooklyn accent."
In 1994 I abandoned my children to go to New Zealand on a whim (and a plane) for two weeks to visit one of my invisible Internet friends. We hit the road for most of that time; it was early May and winter was a-comin' in, but winter in NZ is different from winter in western NY, so all was well. We went lots of places and saw lots of things, and found ourselves one windy cold evening in the coastal town of Napier. There wasn't a lot going on in the dark streets of Napier, but we found a restaurant and then went for a stroll. My companion took a few minutes to duck into a public convenience, and I just hung out on the sidewalk waiting. Well, I was thinner then, and had long hair; I could have passed for younger than 41 under a streetlight, where I happened to be. Along came a group of young men, clearly the worse for an evening spent propping up a bar, and, seeing me alone on the sidewalk, speculated aloud that I might like some company. I have no idea what their intentions were, although I didn't feel any real sense of menace. If I had, I might have reacted differently, but as it was, I bellowed "Wha', yoo talkina ME?" in my best Travis Bickle/Randi Rhodes imitation. They stopped dead. "Yoo got sumpina SAY?" I demanded, fists on hips. "Uh, no. No." They turned and wove off in the direction whence they'd come.
My companion was not happy when I told him about it, and I know it could have turned out badly, but I am a firm believer that not looking like a victim is a good strategy for not becoming one.
Anyway, that's how a bad Noo Yawk accent scared off a bunch of hoons Down Undah.