(Ir-)Rational Fears

A couple of months ago, Germany was paralysed by a tragic story: A man pushed a woman and her eight-year-old son onto the tracks and in front of an approaching train at Frankfurt Central Station. The mother survived; the child did not.

Germans were – and still are – deeply shocked by this tragic story that has left traces everywhere: There is increased police presence at train stations, announcements issue warnings and mothers stand in the middle of platforms clutching their children tightly.

At the moment, their fears are not entirely irrational: while my family was perfectly rational to eat more beef as mad-cow disease hit (lower risk and prices), these types of instances can inspire copy cats (or footboard-riders, as they’re called in German) and one “attack” can inspire others.

I share this - in Germany at the moment maybe rational, but in the grand scheme of things - quite irrational fear thanks to two unrelated incidents.

Before moving to New York, I watched House of Cards and the killing of Zoe Barnes by Kevin Spacey shocked me (and many others) as much as the accusations that brought the show and its lead actor in disrepute. The totally unexpected murder continued to haunt me long after the episode was over.

And then, in my first week in New York, a friend invited me to join her for a jazz night. When we left the bar, a stranger forced himself into our conversation and – trying to be polite – I asked where he was from. This seemingly standard question led to a discourse on Ukrainian military history that lasted approximately 25mins – only to end in the realisation that he wasn’t even from Ukraine. As if that wasn’t memorable enough, the stranger bestowed me with an entirely unwelcome parting present: He told me to be careful at New York metro stations as there were lots of crazy people in New York who randomly push others onto the tracks. Ever since then (i.e. since the first week of living here!), I’ve been entirely paranoid about someone pushing me onto the tracks.

Now, looking at the data this fear is not very rational: In 2015, 50 people were killed by trains in New York. This number includes suicides (around 60%), people walking in between subway cars (around 10%), and people hit by trains. My guess is, that a lot of arguments, fights and drunken quarrels fall into the latter category with only a few cases (if any) actually being the result of crazy people pushing strangers onto tracks.

So while the data tell me that my fear is really quite irrational and that the stranger was as crazy as his theory, I can’t help but stand in the middle of the platform and shift my weight onto one foot to increase my resistance against possible crazy people attacks.