Holy. Crap. So I'm walking out of my office to go to the dentist yesterday. I'm passing the little mobile hot dog stand outside my office's front door (the corner of 17th and L, NW--this is the HEART of downtown people!) when I hear shouting from my left. I turn to see a homeless guy and a Hispanic guy arguing loudly. Many "f%$ks and "hijo de p#$as" were heard. Like any red-blooded American male, I hark back to sixth grade and hang out to see the inevitable punch-up. That's when I see the knife.
The homeless guy is holding a big ol' hunting knife with a blade that looks to be about four or five inches long! Woah. I grab my phone and scream at them, "I'm calling 911 right now!" in the hopes that it would make the homeless guy run off. They both ignore me. The hispanic guy goes over to his three friends, one of whom hands him a handled box cutter to defend himself with. This is getting uglier by the minute.
As I'm on the phone with 911, out of nowhere a paramilitary looking D.C. cop comes striding down the street, gun drawn, shouting at the dudes to get on the ground. They do. Then up runs a TV cameraman and reporter, who happened to be driving by at the right time. As the cop is starting to arrest the hispanic guy, I went to the cop and told him that he was only defending himself. (We found out on the news later that he was not charged, thankfully.) Other cops quickly arrive on the scene, one of which takes my detailed statement, and the TV crew interviews me. Crazy stuff.
And then, at 11 o'clock, comes my brief moment of stardom. Sweet! Already, I've heard from two of my printer contacts that saw my interview on the news...it's only a matter of time before Hollywood comes calling. I won't forget you all at the Oscars.
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