On being assaulted in Amsterdam

In the last 24hrs I was assaulted twice in Amsterdam. Nothing serious, but as with any assault, they shook me a bit.

I have been assaulted before in Cape Town (a number of times, and more violently than in the above instances) but in all of those times it has been by people wanting something from me. In Amsterdam, most people have what they want and there is a lot of social "support" for people who don't. I use the inverted commas as the support is often in the form of being arrested and imprisoned.

In both of the recent cases, I have felt that the people involved have behaved as if they were trapped. Not only physically but emotionally, as if they are being forced to act in a certain way - and it is not surprising that many of their actions have a very close resemblance to bad TV. Being in such a controlled society though, I did not feel unsafe in either situation, more concerned for the people involved - their (re)actions were at the same time comical and sad.

In the second case it was also interesting to see the people around me get involved. The assaulter got very little out of his interaction with me, and so, quickly started to argue with people who had stepped in on my "side", who provided him with much more of a reaction. As I cycled away, the argument continued and seemed to be getting more intense.

It feels as if there is constantly a fight brewing beneath the surface of this society, and I think it is because of our increasing isolation from each other.

We should start talking to each other more.