78 - Inappropriate physical contact with strangers in public

Oh, mother.
A minibus (pictured above), a train and a bus are my modes of transport each and every morning. It takes about an hour to get to school if I don't stop for breakfast on the way and provided that the trains don't take too long. Often, on the train, I look at the people. Hongkongers are very unique and altogether, the public is able to create a very diverse and interesting city to live in.


Very frequently, I get inspiration for this blog while on the train, but I have to say, today's topic upset me so much more than anything else and would definitely go in my top ten list of pet peeves (if I made one).

One day, around a year ago, I had had a relatively abysmal day at school due to a lot of repetitive nudging of my chair from behind and a great deal of watching people fidgeting in class. Also, someone had just sent me an impromptu invitation to see a movie, which I couldn't possibly go to, because I had promised I'd go help my mother pick out hideous Crocs. Of course, the turnstile was obstructed by some dumb ol' kid as I approached it to enter the train station.

It was the afternoon/evening rush hour where everybody's finished work/school and so the train station and incidentally the train were really, really crowded. And that's when the, uh, in appropriate physical contact happened.

So, the doors of the train open and I join in with the mass of people surging into the train, filling up as much space as possible inside the train compartment. The doors closed and I am stuck there, completely immobile except for my ability to turn and tilt my head perhaps.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the guy standing on my right, who has his chest and stomach pressed up against my side. He was in a student's uniform, probably 18 or 19, wore thick black frames and had lots of acne on his face. He was disgusting, not because of his looks, but because of his acne, and he also had a thin layer of dandruff sprinkled all over his head. (And just as an aside, I am superficial like that when it comes to appearances, at least on first impression when I'm around strangers who have their entire torso in close contact with my arm.)

I was quite repulsed by this man, because of his uncleanliness, and I could see that there was space behind him which he could have stepped into instead. So, I subtlety shouldered him to encourage him to take a step back, but no, no, this guy wouldn't budge and he had intentions of, uh, touching me. In fact, after I nudged him, he moved even closer towards me, with his left leg then touching my right. He was purposefully rubbing his body against mine and slyly disguising his movements as leaning so as to counteract the train's moving, but I was not fooled. He was being particularly physical with purpose.

I pushed him a second time, this time more obviously, obvious enough that any stranger who may not have been in the know would have backed away. He knew what he was doing, and he resisted the pressure I put on to him. And that's when I felt his ... excitement on my leg. This guy was humping my leg.

I was so in shock, at least initially. I didn't think people actually did that. I waited until we reached the next stop.

The train arrived at my station and came to a halt and just as quickly as the influx took, the outflow of people speedily stepped off the train one by one and just as the pervert was reaching his climax, God forbid, I turned toward him, swore at him and used all the force I could gather to shove him—hard. He lost his balance and gravity pulled him to the floor. He probably went into momentary shock too and perhaps took a while to look up, but how would I know ... I was gone.

If any of you are about to say I'm mean ... keep in mind that I felt his erection on my leg. ;)