Recently I had occasion to visit London, and found myself at a busy London Underground tube station during the rush hour.
As I was approaching the exit barrier system and was stretching my hand out to place my ticket into it, when a man attempted to barge in front of me mere centimetres from the barrier. I instinctively put my left arm up to stop him physically interfering with my person, and proceeded through the barrier.
Immediately after passing through the barrier the person who had just attempted to barge in approached and stood in front of me, used foul language, and threatened me with actual physical assault if it were not for the presence of cameras in the tube station.
The incident was a bit shocking at the time and I reacted in supplication.
Thinking back, a small part of me wishes that a member of LU staff had been visible and close by at the time, as I felt tempted to call his bluff and scream “assault” or even “fire” (the later which may possibly land me in court hounded by beurocrats, rather than being taken as the desperate call for help that “assault” or god forbid “rape” no longer brings in today’s damaged society), but at the time I did not see any staff and suspected that any attempt to shout for help would result in him punching me and running.
I suspect that this sort of thing is no longer un-typical.
