My Chinese allies in the quest for reducing trash

Lots of food around Penn, especially in the form of food trucks. Lots of vegetarian food, too, which makes me extra happy.

I was introduced to the Veggie Food truck by Carolyn when she visited here (naturally, she told me about it, even though I've been living here for 3 months by that point). Nice people selling good food in disposable aluminum containers and a plastic cover, all to go straight into the trash once I'm done eating.

Feels like a waste. So I took my handy collapsible Tupperware bowl that Paul got for me (thanks, Paul!) and on my next visit to the Veggie Food truck asked if they could put my food there.

The guy looked at me for a second, blinked a couple of times, and said "umm, no." He explained that he would love to, but he would have problems with his insurance company, since they can't guarantee that my container is clean.

Personally, I wasn't convinced. But hey, it's his business.

Today I went over to the Chinese Food truck for the very first time (it's parked right next to the Japanese Food truck, the Indian Food truck, the Mediterranean Food truck, and right across from the Penn gym where all the active-looking people can run in place and look at the food outside the window).

The Chinese girl was happy to serve me in my bowl. I'm happy to eat from it. Everybody wins. :-)

Okay, enough writing. Time to eat.

I got mugged last night, sort of

I'm okay, and no violence happened. No need to worry.

I was walking home last night, around 2am, and was about a block away from my place when a large-ish man stopped me and said "Delaware county?"

I said "what about it?" and he asked where it was, and then proceeded to explain that he needed to get there to meet his daughter etc., and soon after came the unavoidable request to help him out with some money. This happens pretty frequently in my life, but usually when there's more light and more people around, and the person asking me for money doesn't feel dangerous. I told him I wasn't carrying any cash, and he got a little irritated. By this point, I was already worried, and could definitely feel my heart pounding. I was getting ready for something bad to happen.

This kind of thing had never happened to me before.

We were talking all the while, and I was pretty intimidated. I had considered running, but was wearing my sandals (the strap on one of them often comes undone) and had my backpack on. He made it very clear that he wanted some money, and repeatedly said that he doesn't want to hurt anyone, and that he's not going to take anything by force from anyone (it was only him and me there, so it's pretty clear who "anyone" was). Despite his reassuring words, I was still pretty worried.

We ended up going to a nearby (1 block away) gas station, where I went inside a store to the ATM to take some money out. We talked on the way, and he was being proud of how well America and Philadelphia were treating me, and even let me know that "if we were in Israel and You came up to me and told me You needed some money, I'd help You out, You know?"

One of the more bizarre bits happened here. I asked him "how much would help You out?" and he said $20. I said "that's kind of a lot for me" and he responded "well, how about $15, then?" At this point I caught myself, realized how absurd this negotiation process was, and just walked in. As it turned out, the ATM could only dispense $20 bills anyway.

When we came out, I gave him the bill, and he shook my hand and offered me many blessings. "Your hands will be washed," he said, with a big smile, and I was thinking hell yes, I don't even want to know what I'm picking up from your hands right now. I watched him go before I started walking, and was hoping he wasn't going around the corner to meet me again and repeat the process.

When I got home, I was still scared and starting to be angry, trying to process the whole thing. I was wondering then, and still trying to figure out, whether I should've done anything differently.

• It's pretty clear, in hindsight, that I should not have walked home at 2am - I should probably get a bicycle so I can zip by rather than stop and chat with scary strangers.
• Possibly I should've crossed the street as soon as I saw him approach me. But he could've easily followed me.
• I could've also said "stay there! Don't come any closer" as soon as we started talking, which would've made it easier for me to run. But once we were walking past each other, it was hard to keep my distance.
• Should I have been carrying some self-defense device, like a tear spray?
• From a different side, I also wonder whether I should've talked with him more, and try to connect as a person. I did a bit of that as we were walking, and who knows what the effect was. But if there was a 24-hour diner right there, I would've considered inviting him for a meal to hear about his life.
• I probably should not have told him my real name when he asked for it (I wonder if he gave me his real name - the name he gave was about as unusual as mine, so not likely to be invented).
• I wonder if I should've called the police once I was in the store with him, and relatively safe. It's hard to imagine that the police would've been much help (especially given that, although I was intimidated, all he did was tell me how he's not into taking things by force from people). I was worried about him getting very angry and then coming for me later on.
• I also wonder if I should've called the police once I'd arrived at my place. I realized that I couldn't really give a good description of him, other than a vague sense of his height (which I probably exaggerated in my mind, since I was scared), the color of his jacket, the fact that he had something jingling in his pocket, and a fresh $20 in his hands. I could also tell them the name he gave me. But again, would that do any good? What would the police do? And would he then come after me? (since it would be pretty clear it was me who called the police on him).

I'm still going through the aftermath of this incident. I slept very well last night, thankfully, and woke up in an okay mood. As the morning progressed I noticed that my self-esteem is way down today - I'm being a little harder on myself than usual. I'm also a little apprehensive of people who remind me of that guy. I'm not really angry, and was fully engaged in the meeting I was at this morning. I wonder how I will feel once it gets dark.

Last night I received a very important lesson for just $20. The question is: What have I learned?