shiiiiiiiiiit....

I was stuck on the train for an hour around 1am the other night. The signals at 96th weren't working properly so we sat. The train was filled and I had the luck of sitting across from a seriously drunk-belligerent-know-it-all-lecturing-homeless-with-serious-attitude a-hole who had a friend in tow. We'll call his friend the token-aimless-easily-pushed-around-semi-tough-yet-slow-witted-white-kid.

Over and over the train started, slowed and stopped but luckily we had the sage wisdom of the belligerent drunkard to keep us enlightened. He would claw at his young captive, chastising him for some wrong doing regarding a guy who had approached the kid while the kid was with his girl and how the kid hadn't beat said offender senseless as the drunkard thought he should. "yeww fuddin shoo kick hissss asss to da curb mudafuka!" A shove to the kids shoulder for emphasis.

The conductor would occasionally come on the speaker and apologize. Someone would yell their complaint at his voice then resign themselves to being like the rest of us, accepting our stuckness.

A new, unknowing person would enter and sit in the constantly empty seats next to the drunkard and this would give the kid the welcome relief of being left alone so know-it-all could verbally assault the new, innocent person.

New Yorkers are the best to learn from when it comes to Ignore and The Silent Retreat. They do it with such smoothness and ease. I love the process.

New Woman sits next to Drunkard.
"whaaa da faaa yew dewwwin fucka?! Yew some whiiite bitch mudafuka, shiiiiiiiit..."
Woman gives calculated side glance. Locks eyes with a-hole for a second. Gathers info like Crazy Drunk Fuck. He Looks Like He'll Carry On The Whole Time I Sit Here. She disengages eyes and without even turning head quietly scans area for another seat.
"Yew soome dumb fuka wiii ya sorry assss..."
Woman gets up, expression unchanged, unscathed and moves to a better place. This went on the whole time. One person after another. Some people sat amused, some even engaged with him. I love New Yorkers...

After a while I thought it would be nice if some big scary guy got on and mashed the drunkard into the floor but alas, that's not so nice to wish for. And if they had I may not have heard him say one thing that was kinda sage. His friend had said something about where he was from and drunkard responded, "Where yew fraa? Where yew fraaa don't matta mudafuka, where yew at is what matta" I totally agree. Don't you?