This is a peculiar story with interesting rammifications for me and maybe something interesting to hear from somene like me.

Today is a regular work day. I have the late shift, so I really could not afford to be late, especially not on a Monday. I missed my first train, so I was already 10 minutes late. About half way through the commute a bunch of people stepped into my wagon. Among them 3 individuals who I didn't mind at first. One of them didn't seem to belong to the other two and went straight through to the back of the wagon. The 2 other men talked a bit among themselves until one of them separated and went to the middle of the train and just stood there. I thought to myself, that's quite odd. They seem to be buddies, why would they just move to different parts of the train seemingly in the middle of a conversation.

The doors were still open and I looked at the two guys looking kinda stressed or nervous, looking around and not at each other. Suddenly my mind went wild and I got really sick to my stomach. What if.... I thought to myself. It's a train, 3 strange men positioning themselves.... what if. I stepped slowly out of the train just before the door closed. The train went off and I added another 10 minutes to me being late. I sat down and stared at the information display, seemingly waiting for something to pop up. Nothing did. Everything stayed normal and I took the next train to work and now I'm typing this.

I am by no means a paranoid person. But I would describe myself as especially cautious. I will usually go out of my way to take measures to protect myself before something happens. You could say leaving the train was my survival instinct kicking in. I didn't expect it to be so strong. After all, the behavior of the men could've easily been explained by them being ticket inspectors who will position themselves exactly like this just before the train leaves the station. My brain didn't want to risk that appearantly.

Oh, did I mention, that those 3 gentlemen were black? Germany is a very multi cultural country but it's still rare to see actual black people here, even in a city like Berlin. Those were the only black people I saw this day and I'm sure they will stay the only ones. Does leaving a train because black people stepped into my compartment make me a racist? Of course not, only stupid people would claim that. But it leaves me with some interesting things to think about.

Apparently years of immigration and the constant negative coverage in the media and a general stigma of criminal immigrants have subconsciously altered my mind. After the world wide terror attacks reached Germany (and even Berlin) I've been more cautious than ever. In the past I have directly been a victim of crime perpetrated by people with immigration background, so I feel my reactions are definitely grounded in rationalism.

Do I feel weird about my behavior today? A bit. Would I do it again in similar circumstances? Absolutely. I'd rather take a chance and avoid possible danger 500 times without there being any than just once have too lax judgement and risk my health or even my life.

Well that's it. I'll await your unjustified accusations in the comments.

So, what are we supposed to talk about?

Dunno. I just thought it was interesting because I never did that before in my 20 years of going by train. Maybe someone has a similar story to share.

Hmm, I'm actually different in that I am drawn by people of other races.

So you feared you were at risk of being the victim of a terrorist event... Given the current scheme of things in Europe, it's never too far fetched to be wary of suspicious activity, even if it isn't really anything...

But the black part rather than singling them out for acting weird alone does feel something slanted...

Schwarzfahrer XD

Maybe they were looking for someone so they seperated to cover a wider space. Or someone was looking for them. Who knows. 

Depending on where you are in Berlin, there are plenty of black people here. Even I know some of the wannabe criminals. What's the location you went through? 

Well.... I am Black................. so......

Good thing for you though is that I am open minded, and can relate with what your concerns were.

The real question though is; would you have noticed any of that at all if those people weren't black?

Let's say them being black drew my attention more than usual. Middle eastern men would've probably had a similar draw but not as strong since Turkish people are very common in Berlin.

I went through the east part where they're quite rare. It's mostly eastern European and Asians here.

I would have noticed the odd behavior but I most likely wouldn't have assumed anything bad. If they had been white I'd instantly assume they're just ticket inspectors. Which makes the thing interesting because being unassuming of white people who behave out of the ordinary could cost me my life too. I had just never seen a group of 3 black people as ticket inspectors, which in retrospect they probably have been.

I'm not surprised by that.
Black people are indeed quite frequent in Berlin. Per capita though not nearly as frequent as in Saarbrücken or Kaiserslautern, which is about the part where I'm coming from. In Saarbrücken you have a lot of black people with French backgrounds and in Kaiserslautern black people with American backgrounds.

I wonder how he'd explain that to his boss. "Sorry, but I saw black people on the bus, and just couldn't be on it with them!"