This is a fact that some people in NYC need to be reminded of.
Here is why:
1. The other day when K and I were coming home from our fake bag excursion, we were on a packed F train headed for Brooklyn. Luckily we got seats, she sat next to a chubby sleeping woman and I sat next to a little Japanese lady, who was next to two Italian grandmas. Standing around us were many other women, it was as if it were a female-only car. At my eye line was a big bum so I had to keep my gaze elsewhere. Unfortunately my eyes are not far from my nose.
Reminiscing over our day's affairs, K's eyes suddenly grew wide and she grabbed her nose. I took a breath in and quickly realized the problem. Someone, very near, had let one go. And it was STINKY. K asked if it was me. I would admit to passing wind but this was definitely not my doing. K agreed that it did not smell like me (a sign that we are too close?). Both of us sat there with our noses in our scarves. To be polite, this was the extent of our acknowledgment of the offence.
Then the Japanese lady next to me started to make quite the scene. In Japan it is considered polite to make much noise when in conversation. To prove you are listening you must 'ooo', 'ahhh', and say 'honto', therefore Japanese conversations always sound much more exciting than they actually are. This makes the Japanese person very adept at making much noise to express themselves. The little lady next to me started with some 'mmmphs' and then moved on to 'whews' while she fanned the air in front of her.
This made me laugh. Which made me look like the guilty party.
I glanced down further to the two grandma's - they were also snickering and covering their noses. The women at the further pole from me were shaking their heads in disgust.
I began to laugh even more. G-U-I-L-T-Y
K whispered that they thought it was me. (She also whispered that we were breathing in some strangers feces. Would it be better to breath in the fecal matter of a friend?)
I shook my head at them all and told them it wasn't me and pointed to the sleeping lady next to K (who we think really did let the stink bombs fly) or the big bum at my nose. This made them all laugh with me.
If this many people react to something on the subway you just know it is bad.
2. While riding on the train home one day, I was enjoying the freedom of a nearly empty car. Reading my book with my groceries sitting on the seat next to me, I delighted in the lack of farts in the air. The car was practically empty. So WHY did the girl who got on at the Carroll Street station sit right next to me? There were dozens of empty seats! But she looked normal, as if she could be my friend, so I felt that it was okay. Until my reading of chapter four in Twilight was interrupted by a 'thh thh thh' noise. I looked over at the space invasion gal who was checking out her teeth in her compact. The 'thhh thhh' noise was her sucking food out of her teeth. Honestly, couldn't she do that in a bathroom?
3. On the A train heading to Central Park one day I found myself squished against a very large Chinese guy, about my age, who had the audacity to pick his zits and flick the heads onto the floor. Not before inspecting them for size and colour. I almost barfed.
4. One evening a man thought it was perfectly acceptable to cough, snort and spit his mucus into a cup (okay, this actually happened in a cab, but still a public place!)
5. The stench of humans in a tube underground should remind everyone and anyone to SHOWER and use a fantastic device called deodorant. And while you are at it: a toothbrush never hurt anyone!
It may be fast and cheap, but the subway is the pits. I miss my VW.
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