I'd be less of a bitch if you'd behave
Dec. 3rd, 2003 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzLast night, after some doubts and such, I accompanied NoKey to his taijutsu training. Sadly, only Lean (the trainer) was there, the rest had other stuff to do, apparantly. So NoKey got a private training and I got a private demonstration.
At first it didn't make much sense, they weren't moving as fast as I was used to seeing, and I didn't understand how this could be exercise. I saw martial arts contests on Eurosport, and they were very interesting to see (I mean, I like to watch Sumo wrestling...) and this looked nothing like the Eurosport stuff.
But as soon as I found out that first Lean showed NoKey a move, and then NoKey had to do that move, first with the right side, and then with the left side. Then it started to look real cool. Lean occasionally twisted NoKey's wrist, hand, elbow and arm so that NoKey was forced to tumble or fall. And then NoKey would inflict the same kind of pain on Lean.
The way NoKey looked at Lean when he did a roll and kept eyecontact during made me remember the day I met NoKey...he looked at me that way, quite predatory indeed. They also used a sword (made of split bamboo, quite hard indeed) and a knife (of solid wood) in training.
So after the training, in one of the less safe hoods of Rotterdam, we took a metro home. NoKey was all perked up and still on adrenaline a bit, I suppose, and commented to me about a guy who looked like he was addicted or homeless on the other side of the metro. This guy threw trash on the floor like he didn't care, and drank beer and opened the window to the freezing air as if he was the only one in the metro. We just agreed that it was quite anti-social of him to behave that way, when someone felt the need to demonstrate his anti-social qualities.
Just as we left Kralingse Zoom I think, he fidgeted with a cigarette from his pocket, and when we pulled away from Capelsebrug he lit it.
With a chimney like my grandpa in the family I have a good sense of smell for cigarette smoke. It's like a sixth sense. In a clear-aired room without smoke, I can feel it in my lungs when someone lights a cigarette, even if he's on the other side of the room. Now I have a cold, which makes my throat and lungs even more sensitive.
This guy was sitting on the other side of the aisle.
We started out polite. "Meneer u mag hier niet roken" said NoKey. ["Sir, you're not allowed to smoke here"]
"Da' weet ik." said the guy. ["I know that"]
"Zou u die sigaret uit willen maken?" I asked ["Could you please extinguish that cigarette?"]
The man looked at his cigarette, as if pondering whether or not it would be cruel to the cigarette. Then he said "No."
NoKey really got aggravated at this point. He explained to the man that if there was someone with heavy astma in the carriage, that person could die because of his cigarette. The man said that was overreacting, that he didn't believe it. "Sir, I have a bad cold, and your cigarette irritates my throat even more. Could you please extinguish it?" NoKey also explained in not-so-patient-anymore tones that it was physically unpleasant for him that the man was smoking. That it felt like someone squeezing his throat. Maybe the man needed to feel the sensation of someone squeezing his throat himself?
Seeing that the man had no sense of empathy whatsoever, I got cynical on him. "You just can't understand what it's like for other people, can you? If a small child was run over by a car, would you walk on?" I asked him with the menacing tone cats hiss in. But ofcourse now I was comparing apples to pears, this was another league alltoghether. He couldn't wait until he was home, he just was eager to smoke, and since we would take offense, and we would jump him, he lit his cigarette now rather than later.
Somewhere around this point, as the tempers began to boil over, NoKey rose from his seat as the man stood up himself. They were ready to jump eachother. Luckily, here the other passengers stepped in. There was a guy of about my age or maybe a year or two younger, who had just minded his own business, but turned his head occasionally during the conversation. He stepped in swiftly, grabbed the cigarette from the mans' hand, perhaps even burning himself in the process. "You're not allowed to smoke in here, dude." or something like that he said.
At Prinsenlaan, NoKey, the guy, and another guy with a bicycle pushed the man out of the carriage. He just mumbled and said "well that makes you real brave now, doesn't it. That makes you real brave."
When the metro pulled up, we thanked the guy. "He may not have been ironic, you know".
It takes courage to stand up to someone like this. They might as well pull a knife on you, for all you know. But it's good to know that if you stand up to someone like this, there's someone there to back you up.
It's also good to know that when I'm with NoKey, even a guy holding a katana can't hurt him. That makes me feel really safe.
At first it didn't make much sense, they weren't moving as fast as I was used to seeing, and I didn't understand how this could be exercise. I saw martial arts contests on Eurosport, and they were very interesting to see (I mean, I like to watch Sumo wrestling...) and this looked nothing like the Eurosport stuff.
But as soon as I found out that first Lean showed NoKey a move, and then NoKey had to do that move, first with the right side, and then with the left side. Then it started to look real cool. Lean occasionally twisted NoKey's wrist, hand, elbow and arm so that NoKey was forced to tumble or fall. And then NoKey would inflict the same kind of pain on Lean.
The way NoKey looked at Lean when he did a roll and kept eyecontact during made me remember the day I met NoKey...he looked at me that way, quite predatory indeed. They also used a sword (made of split bamboo, quite hard indeed) and a knife (of solid wood) in training.
So after the training, in one of the less safe hoods of Rotterdam, we took a metro home. NoKey was all perked up and still on adrenaline a bit, I suppose, and commented to me about a guy who looked like he was addicted or homeless on the other side of the metro. This guy threw trash on the floor like he didn't care, and drank beer and opened the window to the freezing air as if he was the only one in the metro. We just agreed that it was quite anti-social of him to behave that way, when someone felt the need to demonstrate his anti-social qualities.
Just as we left Kralingse Zoom I think, he fidgeted with a cigarette from his pocket, and when we pulled away from Capelsebrug he lit it.
With a chimney like my grandpa in the family I have a good sense of smell for cigarette smoke. It's like a sixth sense. In a clear-aired room without smoke, I can feel it in my lungs when someone lights a cigarette, even if he's on the other side of the room. Now I have a cold, which makes my throat and lungs even more sensitive.
This guy was sitting on the other side of the aisle.
We started out polite. "Meneer u mag hier niet roken" said NoKey. ["Sir, you're not allowed to smoke here"]
"Da' weet ik." said the guy. ["I know that"]
"Zou u die sigaret uit willen maken?" I asked ["Could you please extinguish that cigarette?"]
The man looked at his cigarette, as if pondering whether or not it would be cruel to the cigarette. Then he said "No."
NoKey really got aggravated at this point. He explained to the man that if there was someone with heavy astma in the carriage, that person could die because of his cigarette. The man said that was overreacting, that he didn't believe it. "Sir, I have a bad cold, and your cigarette irritates my throat even more. Could you please extinguish it?" NoKey also explained in not-so-patient-anymore tones that it was physically unpleasant for him that the man was smoking. That it felt like someone squeezing his throat. Maybe the man needed to feel the sensation of someone squeezing his throat himself?
Seeing that the man had no sense of empathy whatsoever, I got cynical on him. "You just can't understand what it's like for other people, can you? If a small child was run over by a car, would you walk on?" I asked him with the menacing tone cats hiss in. But ofcourse now I was comparing apples to pears, this was another league alltoghether. He couldn't wait until he was home, he just was eager to smoke, and since we would take offense, and we would jump him, he lit his cigarette now rather than later.
Somewhere around this point, as the tempers began to boil over, NoKey rose from his seat as the man stood up himself. They were ready to jump eachother. Luckily, here the other passengers stepped in. There was a guy of about my age or maybe a year or two younger, who had just minded his own business, but turned his head occasionally during the conversation. He stepped in swiftly, grabbed the cigarette from the mans' hand, perhaps even burning himself in the process. "You're not allowed to smoke in here, dude." or something like that he said.
At Prinsenlaan, NoKey, the guy, and another guy with a bicycle pushed the man out of the carriage. He just mumbled and said "well that makes you real brave now, doesn't it. That makes you real brave."
When the metro pulled up, we thanked the guy. "He may not have been ironic, you know".
It takes courage to stand up to someone like this. They might as well pull a knife on you, for all you know. But it's good to know that if you stand up to someone like this, there's someone there to back you up.
It's also good to know that when I'm with NoKey, even a guy holding a katana can't hurt him. That makes me feel really safe.
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no subject
Date: 2003-12-03 06:21 am (UTC)Next time that guy will think twice about lighting his cigaret.
no subject
Date: 2003-12-05 04:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-03 06:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-05 04:10 am (UTC)!
Date: 2003-12-03 04:25 pm (UTC)Then again, I never smoke those cancersticks... Disregard that comment ;-)
*huggles*
Tell NoKey hi from me! And add "Go you!"
Re: !
Date: 2003-12-05 04:11 am (UTC)And you are indeed good with a katana. But I've seen how NoKey reacts to people with knives and swords in training and I think he could take you.
And you still haven't told me about your gf?
Re: !
Date: 2003-12-05 04:16 am (UTC)And if you're ever online, I'll tell you about her ;-)
Re: !
Date: 2003-12-05 04:41 am (UTC)Sadly so.
Re: !
Date: 2003-12-05 04:41 am (UTC)Re: !
Date: 2003-12-05 04:44 am (UTC)I did find a messenger program on this
thingwonderful Linux console, but I have no idea if it works, how it works, and where I'll log into.Re: !
Date: 2003-12-05 04:47 am (UTC)Re: !
Date: 2003-12-05 04:49 am (UTC)I'm online there, and we can pm...