I got punched in the face.
I’ve been hit in the face before, a lot in fact.
But this punch was different.
I’ve been training in Muay Thai for more than six years, sparring almost religiously once a week. Martial arts has always been fun, competitive, and friendly violence in my eyes. After competing in a smoker (exhibition match) last October, at age 34, I thought maybe my time striking has come to an end and I’ll try grappling.
Two weeks ago I severely strained my groin while rolling in a BJJ class. The injury led me to take some time off from training and to pick up an old hobby I haven’t done since I was a teenager. Photography, with a camera. I got a 50-millimeter lens and pulled out my old DSLR and started walking the streets of New York City, taking photographs of landmarks and streetscapes.
The midafternoon serenity of the city during a workday was really enjoyable. I could walk among tourists and blend in.
On Wednesday, January 18, 2023, I might’ve blended in a little too much while I was taking photos on 27th St. between Sixth Avenue and Broadway. I took a reflection photo in a puddle and a streetscape of a closed barbershop with what I thought was a drug dealer out front.
The man in the photo came aggressively running across the street demanding to see the picture.
I tried to defuse the situation by telling him “man it’s OK I’m not a cop. I am a photographer.”
I continued walking down the street when I was hit on the left side of my face not realizing I had just been punched. I scrambled to get my AirPods off the ground and noticed I was bleeding.
In a stunned daze, I Googled the nearest urgent care and walked in blood pouring out of my mouth onto my Patagonia jacket.
The sucker punch left me with six stitches in my face, three on the inside of my mouth and three on the outside of my lip.
The downtown clinic told me to go uptown to see a plastic surgeon because of where the cut was.
It was not the afternoon I had planned for but it was a very New York day. I always felt the media overhyped random violence but getting sucker punched has put some doubt in my mind.
Was the dude mentally ill, was it an attempted robbery, is he just a violent asshole? I don’t know but hey it’s New York, right?
