Ever have one of those moments?
So there I was, on my knees on the train platform, struggling to hold on to my luggage and laptop bag after two Algerian dudes punched and shoved me down then kicked my legs, while a third went through my pockets in the blink of an eye. I'd just gotten off a 12hr flight, and even though I was taller than each of them, I was an exhausted 400lb fat American, and I really didn't want to lose my laptop... I didn't let go, and they actually seemed surprised. But after maybe 20sec (it seemed much longer) they ran off with my wallet, passport, every credit card, passport card, global ID... you name it. Fuckers even got my Costco and AARP card. The ensuing days were an education, waiting at the embassy for an emergency passport (a purple US passport! who knew!?), worrying about bank fraud claims (for the $12,000 worth of designer handbags they'd bought literally 20min later!), and all sorts of things.
To be super clear, I'm grateful it turned out the way it did. Way more than the usual Parisian pickpocketing, this was still just a light robbery with panache. I travel a lot. If this had been on the Metro platform in DC, they woulda just shot me, no question. Dallas or Houston, I'da had my body dumped on some pig fucker farm. Los Angeles, there would have been sticks and they would find me wandering days later on Venice with a traumatic brain injury. Manila... just gone. And home, if you you get stabbed by the tweakers, you might get HEPC or HIV from the shared blood of the last 4 people stabbed with that knife. I'll take Paris, thank you.
But really, nothing snaps reality into focus like being on your knees on a train platform while three guys beat on you and take what they want. In the ensuing days, sleeping off the shock on my son's couch and waiting for a new passport to go home, it really hit home that the biggest danger, the highest risk, was that I would simply glork out on my knees after those three dudes ran off. Heart attack from the shock, stroke from the high blood pressure, you name it, it coulda happened right there. And for what? The wallet and passport, just a hassle. Dying? Don't wanna. That moment. Right there.
Figured I might oughtta do something about that.
That was April. Contemplated fasting again (which was always effective and not hard for me to do) but I always gained the weight back because I didn't change my long term habits. Started exploring GLP1 options in May, started in June. Down 35lbs so far. Still aiming to lose a fourth-grader worth. And planning not to glork out on a train platform. To much fun stuff left to do, don't want to cut it short; Too much to see between now and death.
So there I was, on my knees on the train platform, struggling to hold on to my luggage and laptop bag after two Algerian dudes punched and shoved me down then kicked my legs, while a third went through my pockets in the blink of an eye. I'd just gotten off a 12hr flight, and even though I was taller than each of them, I was an exhausted 400lb fat American, and I really didn't want to lose my laptop... I didn't let go, and they actually seemed surprised. But after maybe 20sec (it seemed much longer) they ran off with my wallet, passport, every credit card, passport card, global ID... you name it. Fuckers even got my Costco and AARP card. The ensuing days were an education, waiting at the embassy for an emergency passport (a purple US passport! who knew!?), worrying about bank fraud claims (for the $12,000 worth of designer handbags they'd bought literally 20min later!), and all sorts of things.
To be super clear, I'm grateful it turned out the way it did. Way more than the usual Parisian pickpocketing, this was still just a light robbery with panache. I travel a lot. If this had been on the Metro platform in DC, they woulda just shot me, no question. Dallas or Houston, I'da had my body dumped on some pig fucker farm. Los Angeles, there would have been sticks and they would find me wandering days later on Venice with a traumatic brain injury. Manila... just gone. And home, if you you get stabbed by the tweakers, you might get HEPC or HIV from the shared blood of the last 4 people stabbed with that knife. I'll take Paris, thank you.
But really, nothing snaps reality into focus like being on your knees on a train platform while three guys beat on you and take what they want. In the ensuing days, sleeping off the shock on my son's couch and waiting for a new passport to go home, it really hit home that the biggest danger, the highest risk, was that I would simply glork out on my knees after those three dudes ran off. Heart attack from the shock, stroke from the high blood pressure, you name it, it coulda happened right there. And for what? The wallet and passport, just a hassle. Dying? Don't wanna. That moment. Right there.
Figured I might oughtta do something about that.
That was April. Contemplated fasting again (which was always effective and not hard for me to do) but I always gained the weight back because I didn't change my long term habits. Started exploring GLP1 options in May, started in June. Down 35lbs so far. Still aiming to lose a fourth-grader worth. And planning not to glork out on a train platform. To much fun stuff left to do, don't want to cut it short; Too much to see between now and death.
