assaulted
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1:05 p.m.

today, i witnessed a man being assaulted on the bus by another passenger on my way home from work.

i was sitting near the back and i noticed a commotion up front. right as i looked ahead, i saw a man hit another man in the face. apparently, this guy was telling everyone coming onto the bus where to sit. when an older man refused, the two men got up and one hit the other. other passengers in the surrounding area got involved and held the offender down. the driver stopped the bus and called the police.

earlier today, coworker maggie was telling me how a man was shot 7 times by a hell's angel in front of her building. then earlier this morning on the bus, she witnessed a woman chasing some guy and eventually caught up with him to beat his head against a wall.

it's amazing how much violence goes on in this city. i've heard a lot of stories and i've seen a few things on the streets while passing by in a bus. the homeless are growing in numbers and many of them are mentally handicapped. right before the incident on the bus, i saw who appeared to be a homeless man trip on a curb and proceeded to swing into thin air out in a fit of rage.

richard, the guy i think i'm dating, had told me about a time when he was riding the train and witnessed a group of kids harass an asian lady on the bus. they surrounded her and began to taunt her. there were a few people in the back car, where he was at. no one was saying or doing anything about it, so he decided to step up and say something. as he did so, the group of kids decided to turn their attention to him and start attacking him. the other passengers moved up to the front of the car and the driver did nothing.

i had told him about something i had learned in psychology. the more people that are present in a situation that would require an act of bravery or an act of goodwill, the less likely people would get involved. the way this theory works is that it puts people in the mindset of thinking that someone else present will step up and i don't have to do anything.

on the bus today, i saw the opposite. well i think i did. because once someone jumped in to stop what was happening, five other people jumped in to sit the victim down and restrain the attacker. although, in richard's case, the group of kids were probably not harming anyone, and in what i saw today, the attacker posed a threat to everyone up front on the bus. so maybe, the act of bravery wasn't completely selfless for whomever stepped up first.

i have to admit. i hesistated to do anything. i saw what happened, and i could have easily been one of the guys to jump in the middle of it all. even though only a few seconds had passed, it seemed like an eternity to realize that there were enough people handling the situation and if i did anything, i would've just been in the way. so i sat and watched. but i realized that if i was in the position to step up, i just might not. fear engulfs me. fear of getting hurt. fear of getting into something that i may not handle. i'm not a superhero. but one day, i just might surprise myself. maybe i am capable of doing great things if the situation called for it.

i stayed until the end. i waited for the cops to arrive. i watched as they took the guy away. i was ready to be a witness if needed.

this world is full of violence. it's amazing how much of it we don't see with our own eyes. you may think you're in a boring world where nothing ever happens. but you'd be amazed at where violence exists. it exists everywhere. in thoughts. in actions. on buses.

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