Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Overheard in the subway: Oy!

My lovely friend N. tells a very interesting story that happened to her yesterday on the subway.
She is sitting in the subway doing a crossword, minding her own business, and a Hasidic man in full Hasidic regalia starts having a conversation with her.
Which should immediately raise a red flag, since aren't these guys not only not supposed to look at a woman, let alone talk to her?
Anywho, I wish I could quote exactly, but the whole gist of the conversation at first seemed to revolve around the crossword. However, as the man leered at her, N. soon realized that he had something else in mind. It was all sexual double entendre.
The man said for instance, between leers, that his wife was too tired to do the crosswords and that she can never finish them. N. reports that the way he looked at her, he was almost licking his lips. EEEWWW.
(N.: You are welcome to quote here from your own experience. I'm a lousy reporter, as you can see.)
The thing is, N. felt completely creeped out by this sexually frustrated creepazoid. What I find offensive is this guy's desperate assumption that he could approach this woman and speak to her like that. Sexual harassers have this genius way of insinuating stuff that, without the subtext, seems perfectly innocent. If the woman were to complain, the guy could say, "I'm only talking about a crossword, you crazy bitch". It is repulsive and cowardly, to boot.
The fact that this was an ultraorthodox Jew makes this even creepier, because he is operating from a warped frame of reference and his approach is even less based on respect than that of a garden variety horny asshole, if you can imagine such a thing. The ultraorthodox look at secular women as if we were all curvehs, whores.
Don't get me started. There is no love lost between them and me.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:07 PM

    I had a friend who worked as a prostitute in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Among her clients were various Hassidim. One of them would have her go to the deli across the street from where she worked and buy him a tuna fish sandwich. As the deli was not kosher, he was not allowed to shop there himself.

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  2. At least he didn't order a ham and cheese.

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  3. Anonymous3:55 PM

    my favorite part about this post is your comments (hi judy! hi david!)
    xox,
    mooki

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