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Guy Shamed For Bad Subway Etiquette Responds, Tugs At City's Heartstrings
By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 10, 2013
Modified Sep 10, 2013
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Sep 10, 2013
Modified Sep 10, 2013
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This morning on Reddit someone posted this photo under the headline: "Being a workaholic is no excuse for being an asshole. Spotted on the crowded 1 train this morning." We were going to ignore this one, guys! But then the "asshole" responded and schooled the heartless Redditors with some Real Talk.
"Hey, that's me!! Didn't notice you're snapping this, I would have waved in order to get a more flattering photo. My front looks less bald than my top, honest!
Some background: I'm wrapping up my PhD thesis. In parallel, I started a new job, my wife went back to school, and we have a new baby (second kid). My wife and I generally sleep 3-4 hours on a good night. Rest of the time is work, work, work, weekends included, with the exception of one free weeknight a week each of us gets in order to preserve some meager amount of sanity.
This means I could either get some work done on the subway or reduce the aforementioned amount of sleep even further. (BTW, at this specific instant I am reviewing the latest comments my adviser gave to my method section.) Usually I manage to get a sit [sic] but I got delayed at daycare this morning, hence this pitiful situation. I apologize for inconveniencing you—personally, I did not feel that the train was so packed (the aisle was quite empty). I switched to a sit [sic] at 72nd St.
Anyhow, have a good day and I hope poor sods such as myself will be your greatest sources of consternation in life. And to all of the worried parties, the subway floor is relatively clean (you discover this when your toddler throws a temper tantrum on it...). As far as I can see my pants are fine."
Needless to say, this guy has now won over the hearts of... well, at least hundreds. And maybe this can be a lesson to us all. How many hours a day do we spend ignoring other human beings right in front of us? Shaming them for just trying to get through life the best way they know how? Looking down at our precious Candy Crush game instead of choosing a meaningful interaction with a real person? Wasting life and time by being annoyed at something so trivial?
Now is a good time to mention that His Holiness The Dalai Lama will be giving teachings at the Beacon Theatre next month—get your tickets now and become less annoyed later.
Tagged
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subway
subway etiquette
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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