Boston Puts the Squeeze on Subway Gropers

[ckramer]

Source: npr

Transit officials in Boston recently launched an aggressive campaign aimed at cracking down on people who take advantage of the tight squeeze on crowded trains. Over the past month, officials say the program has led to a record number of arrests for subway sex assaults.

Riders on Boston's subway, known as the "T," are accustomed to the fact that sometimes there will be full-body contact on jam-packed trains, where people are falling and bumping into one another. However, that sardine-canlike environment creates the perfect camouflage for those who grope.

One rider, Laura Thomas, says it sometimes takes a while to realize when the touching goes beyond the accidental bump. But Boston University student Dianna Wizka knew it was intentional immediately with one guy who she says did more than just grope.

"He just kept on kinda like thrusting his pelvis, rubbing up and down. Just skeevy," says Wizka, who didn't report the assault to police.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90599227

[Vincardog]

1. Is there room to lift a forceful knee? You know turn to face the fiend, smile knowingly

and light them up like a Christmas tree.

[Warpy]

6. No, people are packed in like sardines during rush hour

and often you don't see the groper.

My technique if I could identify the creep was to bring down the heel of my shoe HARD on his instep. There was always room to do that, and I did my level best to break it.

If I couldn't identify him, I have a stage voice that sounds like a normal voice but can shatter glass, and I'd say "Get your filthy hand off me, you fucking pervert!"

He always did, because if I couldn't turn around to ID him, everybody behind me sure could and believe me, everybody on that train turned to LOOK.

[hokies4ever]

7. You sound like Ron Artest

who after getting a beer thrown on him, immediately ran into the crowd and beat up the first person he saw who he thought might be responsible. You should rethink your strategy on this.

[Warpy]

9. No, I was damned sure when I stomped.

And you might want to read the whole post before you try to offer advice.

[hokies4ever]

10. and what will you do when he punches you in the face?

might want to think out this strategy a little bit. Look, I'm not condoning perverts, just pointing out that your method of handling them might not be the best. Nothing wrong with encouraging people to think twice about how they would handle it. :patriot:

By the way, many guys in this situation have been accused before of being a pervert when it's just crowded. Contrary to some people's belief, not all guys are perverts. So think twice before assaulting someone is my point.

[LeftyMom]

11. Yes, women shouldn't fight back against sexual assult.

Really, it's much better that untold numbers of women get dryhumped or worse in public, than risk the possibility that some innocent man gets a dirty look or his foot stepped on. If women don't like it they can just stay home. (No, I'm not putting a sarcasm icon here. If for one second you thought this was serious, I pity you.)

Fucking A, sometimes I can't believe the shit I read on this board. :grr:

[hokies4ever]

12. You better be damn sure someone dry humped you

before you go assaulting them. Violence begets violence. You're too naive to realize that many guys are assholes who follow the philosophy of, "If you're gonna do the time, you might as well do the crime." Mull over that!

[LeftyMom]

15. Maybe your friends.

I know for a fact I don't associate with any guy who thinks that way, because any guy who would even think about treating a woman that way, ever, doesn't deserve the benefit of my company.

The only way to end sexism is to ostracize sexists.

Think over that, before you excuse and enable any more sexist bullshit.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[iverglas]

38. "mull over that"?

All I'm seeing to "mull over" is a rather wide-ranging series of blathering efforts by you to persuade women not to take action to terminate assaults against them.

You might get hurt, you might get the wrong person, you should think twice, you need advice from me, you're too naive ...

What I'm mulling over at the moment is just one question: who exactly do you think you are?

[flvegan]

19. What will she do? Laugh when the guy who saw it levels him with a fucking haymaker.

If a woman has been assaulted, sexually by some shit on a tram and I saw it, and she penalized him for it and THEN this "big man" decked her.

Enjoy the ER, fuckwit. And I'm probably not in the minority. This isn't about crowding, it's about assault. I doubt many women go inflicting battery upon fellas that accidentally brush up against them.

[hokies4ever]

20. What if she isn't sure who did it?

In that specific hypothetical, would you suggest assaulting the person who 'looked' most guilty? What if you're 99% sure? 95% sure? 51% sure? 49% sure? Where's the threshold?

As a black man, I find this very repulsive. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I have lived my life being the first person that people initially look at, because ingrained in their ignorant heads is the image that the big black man is evil. Always having to explain, "It wasn't me" everyday in life. Perhaps you should walk in someone else's shoes for a day first. If I had a nickel every time this has happened I would be able to buy out the remainder of Bush's term as Ignoramus in Chief. :rofl:

[flvegan]

21. Like I said..

I saw it. I saw him hit her. Your case has no defense in this regards.

So this is a grudge because of your skin color? I'm sorry to hear that. Lots of us "people" aren't like that, and maybe just maybe that should be considered. I personally don't see guilty or innocent based on that.

[hokies4ever]

22. Reading comprehension isn't your strong suit

so I'll just repost the same post again:

What if she isn't sure who did it?

In that specific hypothetical, would you suggest assaulting the person who 'looked' most guilty? What if you're 99% sure? 95% sure? 51% sure? 49% sure? Where's the threshold?

As a black man, I find this very repulsive. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I have lived my life being the first person that people initially look at, because ingrained in their ignorant heads is the image that the big black man is evil. Always having to explain, "It wasn't me" everyday in life. Perhaps you should walk in someone else's shoes for a day first. If I had a nickel every time this has happened I would be able to buy out the remainder of Bush's term as Ignoramus in Chief. :rofl:

[flvegan]

23. Blocking and copying is yours, with inherent lack of understanding.

Good show.

[hokies4ever]

24. Does Mickey Kantor hate black people as much as you do?

:rofl:

Hey, makes as much sense as some of your posts! Don't you have a random innocent person to assault? :rofl:

[flvegan]

25. Are you accusing me of racism?

Be very, very, VERY clear on this.

[hokies4ever]

26. I see that you didn't deny it

therefore I both reject and denounce your crass statements in this post. :rofl:

[flvegan]

27. Are you accusing me of racism?

I'll ask again, because you don't seem to get it.

You'll note from a previous post that I've already denied considering race as an issue.

If you're going to accuse me of racism and of threatening you (another of your posts) then I'm going to ask Admin to look into this before it becomes the inevitable "Deleted Subthread".

[hokies4ever]

28. Please stop harassing me

Thanks. And don't you go sending me any private messages either. Offlimits to you stalker types.

[flvegan]

29. So is that a yes?

Or is that a no?

Seriously, are you calling me a racist or are you full of shit?

Hey, if you get a PM from me, "stalking" you, I seriously want you to Alert on it (it's a link in the PM). No, really, I want you to.

[alarimer]

34. If somebody sees that going on and doesn't try to stop it, they are guilty as well.

So what if you embarrass a few innocent men. Maybe they will tell their fucking pig brothers to stop giving them a bad name.

Your advice fucking sucks, especially to someone who's even been in that situation. Me, I'd just scream at the top of my voice.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Are you fucking nuts?

Should she just stand there and take it?

[hokies4ever]

14. You better be damn sure someone dry humped you

before you go assaulting them. Violence begets violence. You're too naive to realize that many guys are assholes who follow the philosophy of, "If you're gonna do the time, you might as well do the crime." Mull over that!

[awoke_in_2003]

30. "Violence begets violence"

Damn straight it does. And dry humping some innocent woman is pretty violent (hello, rape is violent), so don't expect me to feel sorry for the asshole that does it.

[hokies4ever]

31. That's fine

as long as you're damn sure that the person is guilty. If you're not sure, I don't think it's wise to lash out at whoever 'looks' the most guilty.

[awoke_in_2003]

32. Have you ever been on a packed subway car?

Pretty easy to tell who is standing directly behind you. I agree that you don't want to lash out at just anybody, but in certain situations you have no doubt. Sorry if you think this an attack on you, that is not what I mean to do. But women are victims in our society, and I can't get upset when they fight back.

on edit: violence is never a good answer, but sometimes it is the only answer.

[hokies4ever]

33. Live in downtown Boston

I understand that it is not an attack on me, because you didn't attack me, just my idea. Nothing wrong with a discussion on the merits. :patriot:

Public transportation is ALWAYS crowded during rush hour here in Boston and never an enjoyable experience, both the buses and subway cars. I don't like the idea of violence because I see inadvertent 'accidents' everyday. In particular, the green line subway cars are like 100 years old and don't have enough hand grips, or the hand grips are in awkward positions. During rush hour on the green line in Boston, it's very common to see people accidentally fall onto someone's lap when the driver makes a hard turn without braking. Most people just apologize and it's all good. I would hate to see people on the green line choose violence first. I know that there are perverts out there, but I will always question when violence is considered to be the BEST reaction to any situation. I really liked a story I read a while back about people who were using their cell phones to snap photos of these perverts on the subways. Those are the kinds of actions I would like to encourage. Or maybe also include kind of a neighborhood watch mentality, where everybody watches everybody else's back and alerts the authorities when necessary. Sorry, but I just can't rationalize violence being the BEST solution when in crowded public transportation. It's not like the person is going to run away if you don't knee them in the groin. Personally, I think it's a failure of the transportation department if people must resort to violence to protect themselves. My counter argument is that if people need to do this, then obviously more security is needed on these subway cars. The government needs to fork over the dough and put security cameras in every car. I think we need to create an atmosphere that convinces people that perverts WILL be caught if you alert the authorities in the subway area.

[awoke_in_2003]

39. More security is a good point-

When I lived in a city that had public transportation (Cleveland) I can't recall ever seeing a cop on the trains- and I lived their for 10 years. Only place you see them is out giving tickets- because that generates revenue.

[dysfunctional press]

37. it's not always the person standing directly behind you doing the groping...

that's the problem with just lashing out- you can't always be sure of who exactly did the grope.

[Berry Cool]

2. Here would be my solution.

I'd just yell out nice and loud, "Will whoever's grinding his cock into me remove it, please? I'm sorry, but sometimes even the littlest things get to me these days."

I think people would be making as wide a berth around me as possible from that moment on.

[hokies4ever]

17. Much better solution than Vincardog

Alerting other people to a pervert is much better than assaulting them when you're in a crowded public place. My philosophy would change if you're not in a crowded public place. That is to say, if nobody is nearby, physical assault is justified if you feel that you are being threatened in an aggressive sexual nature.

[Beregond2]

3. I thought this

was going to be a thread about sandwiches.

[JPZenger]

4. I needed that laugh nt

[bluedigger]

5. Well,

They do call them "grinders" up there!





:hide:

[crim son]

8. Been there, experienced that.

One time I reached behind me, grabbed the groper's hand and held it tight while turning around to try to make eye contact. I couldn't; it was too crowded and the hand escaped my grasp. It was vile, but it was also about the fourth time it had happened in two years, so I wasn't shocked.

[Regret My New Name]

18. Women never grope me on the subway....

I wonder how I would react... Damn, I wish I was better looking. Maybe I should eat at subway more often.

[saigon68]

36. Girls never make passes

At Boys with Fat Asses

[Javaman]

35. time to have taser chasity belts. ;)

or taser equipped panties.

[daleo]

40. It sounds like more subway trains would help

Public transit shouldn't be unpleasant. I know, I'm a dreamer.

[-..__...]

41. Meh...

what's a little feel-up here and there?

Things could be worse...

[iverglas]

42. someone likely doesn't know it

but that's Randy, from the world's best comedy series ever, Trailer Park Boys.

"Randy! You Concocted This Elaborate Charade to Cover Up the Fact that you Ate 16 Cheeseburgers?"

It's Canadian (see the little Showcase bug at the bottom?).



Episode 1 starts here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk3IFmf2cDk

"Take your little gun and get out of my trailer park" Hahahaha.

Season 8 should be starting soon. For me. You may have to wait for the DVD.

http://www.trailerparkboysusa.com/