Stranger Danger

An American guy came up to me the other day and asked me if I was a prostitute. The typical response to this has been “what were you wearing?” Jeans, flats, a long coat. I was waiting by a metro stop in a pretty hip but innocuous part of town. Not all who wander are lost, and not all who stand still are prostitutes. His exact words were “Are you for sale?” I have spent about probably two hours total thinking of caustic responses, but I still have nothing. It’s harder since it’s a pretty direct question. So if you say “why, are you buying?” or something like that, then they would just be like “yes, I am…” I guess most of my mean phrases usually would be something implying that the guy couldn’t get laid, but he’s basically already admitting that by looking for a prostitute.

Also, a crazy homeless woman tried to spit on PS. Luckily, she missed. I think I understand when people talk about animal instincts, because my first reaction after shock was to do something aggressive back to her. She had already crossed the street, so it came down to me yelling some bad words in English. Once I got a little more collected I yelled bad words at her in French. Then I looked like the crazy one, because she had already sat down quietly on her steps. I do have a better idea for this one in retrospect. We were in the Jewish quarter, so I should have yelled “Why, because we’re Jewish!?” This would have roused some spirits. But much like picking on the guy looking for a prostitute, it seems like you can only be so mean to a crazy homeless woman, even if she tried to spit on your (one’s) boyfriend.