Michael Arrington can be a fairly arrogant ass when he wants to be, but he’s got this feet-on-the-ground aura that puts him in a separate class from trolls and attention whores. He can be a sensationalist, but there’s always something concrete to back it. It’s substantial sensationalism.

Out of bloggers, he’s also one of the most responsive I’ve seen. Arrington regularly monitors the comment threads and posts thoughtful, brief replies. He’s admirably human, so I was sortof taken aback by the following post…

RTFA: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/28/some-things-n…

Yesterday as I was leaving the DLD Conference in Munich, Germany someone walked up to me and quite deliberately spat in my face. Before I even understood what was happening, he veered off into the crowd, just another dark head in a dark suit. People around me stared, then looked away and continued their conversation.

Generally at events people come up to me to talk about their startups. My reaction varies depending on how much sleep I’ve gotten and how many times I’ve been pitched in the previous hour. Sometimes I sit down and watch a demo. Sometimes I give them my card and ask them to contact me. Yesterday I was battling the flu, jetlag and little sleep, and had been battered for three days straight with product pitches from entrepreneurs desperate for press. The event was over and I was on my way back to my hotel. The last thing I wanted was another product pitch as I hurried to the car that would drive me to Davos for the next event. So when I saw this person approach me out of the corner of my eye, I turned away slightly and avoided eye contact. Sometimes that works. But in this case all it did was make me vulnerable to the last thing I expected.

In the past I’ve been grabbed, pulled, shoved and otherwise abused at events, but never spat on. I think this is where I’m going to draw a line.

Take some time off, dude.