Waking Someone on the Train

I often wonder about what kind of judgment some people use while riding the subway. That is bad enough to think about during "normal" riding hours. Multiply that tenfold during the late hours that I ride on the trains. Allow me to elaborate on what I mean.

I was riding the train after work last night/this morning and the train had a mix of people coming home from work, those going to work and those coming back from Friday night's entertainments. I tend to sit in the middle of the car. Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps it's because I'm a creature of habit in certain aspects of my life. To be honest, during the late night hours, the corner seats tens to be occupied by sprawled out sleepers and/or homeless people. To get to the point, apparently there was a guy either sitting asleep or had his legs on one of the long corner seats while asleep. Nothing strange about it, right? Well, here comes my source of wonderment.

This older guy gets on the train and yells out "Wake up and get your feet off of the seat". Naturally he startled everyone on the train including the sleeper who the message was intended for. The older guy who was of a decent size decides to sit directly across the now awakened and pissed off man to further browbeat him. He tells him that it's illegal to occupy more than one seat while on the subway. Now, while that is true, unless you're a police officer why stick you're neck out. Sure the older dude was wearing a baseball cap that had the word police written across the side but I would hardly say that his hat would qualify him to be a law enforcement official. 

So the man continues to bust this dude's balls to the point where the awakened man tells him to "Just shut the fuck up already". That seemed to end the now truly amusing exchange between the two men. The sleeper went back to sleep and the old dude was left grumbling about God knows what. Ok, so you would think that would be the end of my little tale. Nope, not quite. Fast forward the train ride to the Hunts Point station in the Bronx.

The train pulls into said station and the sleeper gets up to get off the train. As he steps off the older man yells something out at him and starts wagging his index finger at him. The man steps back on the train and looks like wanted to throttle the man. He, unlike the older man, showed better judgment by just exiting the train avoiding any further confrontation. The older man focused his attention a teen who got on at Hunts Point and was wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates hat. The older man told the teen "Now that's a team" while pointing at the hat. The teen just opened the side door and went into the next car. LOL.

I mean what are people thinking. What if the dude who was sleeping had a bad day, a bad week or a bad month. Why risk putting yourself in a position where you could be assaulted or worse. People need to learn to just mind their business and just sir there quietly. You hear of it often enough in the news (and on YouTube) about how the person who stuck their nose in someone's business on the train got the taste smacked out of their mouth. Come on now people. Just ride the iron horse and get home safe. 

FH

The Sleeper and the Yeller on the 6

On my way home from a long night this past Sunday morning, a  dude gets on the train and after a minute of nodding off he decides to lay down and sleep. The train pulls into 125th street and this couple boards the train and the man yells out "Call the Cops" waking the dozing man.

The sleeper gets up and asks the yeller what his problem is. To which the yeller says he has no problem. Sleeper says "Why you got to wake me up by yelling" It seems like the issue is squashed as sleeper lays back down. 

A few minutes later, sleeper sits up and starts to "sing" loudly to a raggae song that seems to be playing through his headphones. At random points sleeper looks at yeller and asks him if he has a problem. Yeller continues to answer that he doesn't. Sleeper sings a lyric that tells about someone who disrespects him and pays the price. Most times I'd say that it is only shit being spoken but I have to admit that Sleeper seem to be a real tough customer. A real scrapper. Sleeper bow starts to pace within the train car like a caged animal causing everyone on the car to look at each other cautiously but quickly. 

The train pulls in at Longwood Avenue and Yeller and his lady get up and Sleeper approaches them. I swear a collective psychic "Here it comes" is uttered by the passengers on the train, including myself. But here is the climax to the story. Sleeper tells Yeller to be careful on who he disrespects on a train. Yeller responds that he meant no disrespect towards Sleeper. Both guys shook hands and Sleeper sat back down to catch some more zzzz's. 

I know, not the ending you would expect at 5am on the Bronx bund 6-train. Hey, I have to admit, I'm proud of Sleeper. He took the high road when I thought that he would take the low road. Guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover. 

FH