To all who are worried about my safety

I am in the airport waiting for my flight to Philadelphia and thought I’d make a few minutes to dispel any worries some of you may have about my safety. Boson seemed like a safe place. Of course, I was mostly out in the day, but even in the evenings everywhere I went was well lit and populated. There was only one time when I felt like I was in danger.

I was walking through a dimly lit tunnel connecting one underground train station to another. It was a long hallway with several turns, preventing you from seeing very far in front of you. I was walking briskly through the tunnel. It was around 8:00 at night. I glanced down for a second and my heart skipped a beat. There, about 1.58 inches from my left foot, was a gigantic cock roach. In case you aren’t familiar with gigantic cock roaches, 1.58 inches is well within their striking range. Seriously. This guy had probably lived in the damp tunnels under Boston for centuries. He probably took refuge there in 1775 to escape the march of the Royal Army. The moment was terribly frightening. The instant I saw it, my other foot (right) had already left the ground to take its next step, thereby rendering my left foot completely immobile for about 1/3rd of a second. That fraction of a second was the moment I was most in danger in Boston.

On my next trip, I’m leaving the pepper spray home and taking a travel-size bottle of Raid instead.