One fine day
Monday, June 30th, 2008Our local tube station has been home to a lot of tutting about an attempted robbery that took place there the previous weekend. The scandal is that it happened in the middle of the day. Convention dictates that crime is only meant to lurk amongst us at night.
Not in my world it doesn’t. The midday tube station robbery, like Prousts Madeleine, instantly took me back to one of my favourite crime moments, one which I still can’t believe actually happened to me.
It was a normal week day morning in the inner city Sydney suburb where I used to live when I was a student. I had gotten up disgustingly early at around 10am and found myself in the dire situation of not having any milk or coffee in the house. So, without a second thought, I headed out the door to buy some. It was a glorious morning I recall: clear blue skies, warm with a slight breeze and the streets of terraced cottages were ringing with birdsong (or squarwking as it tends to be in Sydney). Despite the lack of caffeine in my bloodstream, I felt happy and at peace with the world.
Suddenly I was rudely awoken from my reverie by a young man rushing up to me shouting and waving something. ‘Give me all your money’ he seemed be saying. I was kind of annoyed that he was interfering in my ‘moment’ and my quest for coffee and must have just looked at him in disbelief.
‘Give me all your money or I’ll kill you’ he continued. I looked down and realised that he was pointing a syringe disturbingly close to my chest. ‘It’s full of AIDs. I’ve got AIDS and I’ll stab you with this and kill you’ he added usefully.
I don’t know what came over me, but I was just really irritated. I told him that I didn’t have any money, that I was a broke student and just had a couple of bucks that I was going to buy coffee with. He could have that but it probably wouldn’t go very far now would it?
He just looked dumbfounded and said lamely ‘But I’ll stab you with the needle’.
Frustrated I shouted ‘And I’ve only got $5!!!’
At that he just turned and ran away, telling me to forget that this ever happened. I went and bought milk and coffee, and it was only when I was back home at the kitchen table that the reality of what had just happened really hit me and that my behaviour may have been a bit risky. Still, I was fine and I called the police who dutifully took pages of notes. Nothing else happened. And that’s the end of the story.
Wonder what ever happened to him though.

