Trekhprudny Lane

It has been a classic example of one of those days. Too much time on the subway, much of it with both girls. Since A. was re-diagnosed with acquired asthma yesterday, I've been reading about air quality here, both indoors and out, and while there's little easily accessible information in English, none of it is encouraging. 

Worst, I was hit by a car. Not too hard, but enough to make me stumble. Afterward I did not move out of the car's way immediately, and just sort of stared at the man behind the wheel for a minute, trying to calm down, and the driver, far from being apologetic, stared right back, and then put his fingers on top of his bald head to form deer antlers. At that, I considered staying put, just long enough for him to decide to nudge the front bumper of his SUV even tighter against my stomach, deliberately pushing me backward a couple of steps. I remember thinking, God, am I actually having a matador-style stand-off with a large vehicle? What is going on with this place? Three minutes later I had stepped out of the asshole's way and made it safely down to the subway platform, where a large woman brushed into me from behind and sent my Ipod flying out of my hand and then skidding like a hockey puck down the platform. She did not even turn around. 

I am not made for city life. I keep thinking of that creature from Solla Sollew trying to keep an eye out for trouble in both directions at once.