The TRAINing Experience

Ghetto

April 28th - 

When I came home last night, the train was packed. As soon as a seat came available I went to sit down. However, the seat was between a very large African-American young woman, and two very large working men. It was going to be a squeeze. So as I sit down, I have to wiggle to get in, so I jokingly said, “Guess I need to wiggle my fat behind to get in here.” The young woman just ignored me and didn’t budge, while the men at first looked at me funny, then cracked a smile, and started wiggling as well so I could fit in. 

At that point the gentleman next to me, in his thick Bronx accent makes a comment about the young woman having to wiggle her behind to sit down too. 

Well, what proceeded from there was clearly a short-fused reaction and inconsideration of others at the end of the day. The young woman was quick in her response, with a lot of four-letter expletives telling the man to be quiet. Apparently this working man did not hear nor understand her request as he came back with another comment, referring to her origins as “Ghetto.” I could tell that was a fighting word as all around us in this packed train, moved away, quickly. This descriptive and colorful exchange of words went on for about three minutes. Another learning experience as I learned a lot of new words and phrases. 

Finally there was a lull in the conversation, so I quietly told the man sitting next to me that I thought that it probably was a good time to stop. I smiled and winked at him when I said this. He smiled at me again and nodded in agreement. After it was quiet, I decided to ask about these two gentleman’s work, hoping to diffuse any more tension. When I got ready to leave the train, I had made two new friends.