I'm on a bus in the dark, going up Barbur Boulevard or somewhere similar. I'm looking for a certain medical clinic, and I have a mapquest printout of how to get there. I'm watching the streets go by, trying to find the address.

Two boys get on behind me and start sticking their knees in my back. The seats are sort of open back there, such that they can stick their knees right through and pester me. I sit forward on the seat to try to avoid them. I talk to the bus driver. "I'm just sittin' in my seat, man," I say, "just sittin' in my seat."

One guy is reaching behind my head, and I see that he has a blade, like he's going to stab my arm. "Give me your money," he says, "or I'll cut you."

"Look, you don't want to do that," I say. "it's going to be a bloody mess, the cops are going to get involved, you're not going to get away with it on a crowded bus."

I see my chance, and suddenly lash my hand out, knocking the knife from his grasp and onto the floor in the aisle. I jump up immediately, yelling "Stop the bus! That thing you just heard falling on the floor was a knife, and these guys are going to stab me in about one second!"