rabbit-snowman1.jpgCork has a reputation as a generally safe city, but there are still pockets of crime in a city of this size.  One gray dreary January day, Pat and I decided to divide and conquer in an effort to get several errands taken care of a bit more efficiently.  As I was crossing the bridge over the River Lee to scout out the location for my written driving test, I was thinking to myself how nice it was to be able to walk around a fairly large city by myself and still feel safe.  This bubble of false security was ruptured rather violently not long after this moment of blissful ignorance. 

I walked around the corner on to a slightly less busy street and was quickly confronted by a young woman with slurred speech asking for “two seconds of my time”.  I shook my head and began to move away when she grabbed my hair and then started slapping my face and body.  I pulled away from her only to be accosted by her male counterpart a few feet away who also grabbed my hair and attempted to detain me.  I once again escaped and then sprinted toward a group of road workers who were about 25 yards further down the street as I screamed for help.  I was glad to have someone to run toward, but the men made no move whatsoever to help me or to check to see if I was okay.  After I had stared wide-eyed at one of the men for several seconds he mutely shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. 

I very much hope this degree of inertia is the exception to the rule and not the norm when someone witnesses another person being attacked on the street.  Of course, hopefully, I won’t find myself in such an unsavory position again.  But one never knows.  The encounter has definitely raised my level of alertness when I am out and about on the streets, though.