I was walking down 28th street at the corner of Lexington on Monday, when I accidentally brushed a man’s arm. A pair of spectacles he was carrying, but wasn’t wearing, fell on the footpath causing one lens to crack. I apologized quickly and walked on. In a few minutes, this large man, tapped me rather firmly, and said I should compensate him for the broken glasses. I was surprised, and didn’t give into his request. He seemed to be getting rather upset and said it would cost him $200 to fix the spectacles. I tried to downplay the situation by remaining calm and tried to calm him down. He continued his request for money, and I finally said that I was meeting a friend, and I would ask him if he could give some since I didn’t have any and I was a visitor to the city. Only then did he walk away. I felt intimidated throughout the exchange, and didn’t want to give in, and was curious to see where things would lead; I had the safety of being in mid-town Manhattan in broad daylight.
I’m curious to know what you would have done in this situation? Would you feel indebted to him and give into his request despite feeling intimidated?
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