Subway Stories: Red Line No. 2 - Green Line No. 1
I read my horoscope every day. Virgo is my sun sign. Taurus is my rising sign. Supposedly there are a number of intense and unique planetary alignments happening on top of the full moon, so strange things are supposed to be happening. And they are. The plan was to update Subway Stories once a week. After the day I had, and since I’m writing about these strange encounters, I could not NOT write today. I know, bad double negative, but that was my day on the T.
Part I
Today was the first sunny warm day in almost two weeks. I was so happy to be outside and enjoyed my walk to the Wollaston stop. I’m reading The Da Vinci Code, again, to get ready to see the movie on Saturday. I was sitting on an end seat next to the doors trying to enjoy my book.
Sitting next to me appeared to be a rather disheveled homeless woman and thankfully she didn’t smell. Across from me were a man and a woman, who had probably seen better days as well. She was furiously applying tons of make-up and he was yelling into a cell phone telling the person to stop calling him or he was going to get a restraining order.
Two young white guys got on the train and stood in front of the doors. I’m African-American. I mention race here because it mattered later. I forgot which station they got on, maybe North Quincy. They were both in their early twenties and were dressed virtually alike. They had on brightly colored plaid cotton shorts, just above knee length. Also, they had on short sleeve Polo jerseys with the collars up. I’m not sure if preppy is the proper word nowadays, but that was the preppy look back when I has in high school.
They looked like they probably went to boarding school. Not that there's anything wrong with that. One of them was on a cell phone standing in front of the door across from me. The other was standing beside me in front of the other door. The one on the cell phone seemed to be talking to someone who was going to hire someone. He got off the phone and I think he said to his friend; “He’s not going to hire him, because he’s black and a security risk. That’s really messed up.”
I was really angry. Well, at least he acknowledged it was messed up. Did I really hear that? Maybe I misheard him. I kept thinking what else he could have been saying that I confused. What else rhymed? I couldn’t figure out anything else and my heart felt like it broke a little. Little discriminations like this that happen everyday and will never be rectified add up to the larger societal problem. Will they say something?
They had gone on with their conversation, but I forgot what they said. I felt horrible for that man that wasn’t getting that job. Although I was still looking down at my book, I wanted to look at their faces. Did they see me? I’m obviously black. I looked up at them and into their faces. I don’t know if they noticed me. I don’t know what I was looking for on their faces, but I guess I didn’t find it. I went back to my book. I hope I just misunderstood.
Part I
Today was the first sunny warm day in almost two weeks. I was so happy to be outside and enjoyed my walk to the Wollaston stop. I’m reading The Da Vinci Code, again, to get ready to see the movie on Saturday. I was sitting on an end seat next to the doors trying to enjoy my book.
Sitting next to me appeared to be a rather disheveled homeless woman and thankfully she didn’t smell. Across from me were a man and a woman, who had probably seen better days as well. She was furiously applying tons of make-up and he was yelling into a cell phone telling the person to stop calling him or he was going to get a restraining order.
Two young white guys got on the train and stood in front of the doors. I’m African-American. I mention race here because it mattered later. I forgot which station they got on, maybe North Quincy. They were both in their early twenties and were dressed virtually alike. They had on brightly colored plaid cotton shorts, just above knee length. Also, they had on short sleeve Polo jerseys with the collars up. I’m not sure if preppy is the proper word nowadays, but that was the preppy look back when I has in high school.
They looked like they probably went to boarding school. Not that there's anything wrong with that. One of them was on a cell phone standing in front of the door across from me. The other was standing beside me in front of the other door. The one on the cell phone seemed to be talking to someone who was going to hire someone. He got off the phone and I think he said to his friend; “He’s not going to hire him, because he’s black and a security risk. That’s really messed up.”
I was really angry. Well, at least he acknowledged it was messed up. Did I really hear that? Maybe I misheard him. I kept thinking what else he could have been saying that I confused. What else rhymed? I couldn’t figure out anything else and my heart felt like it broke a little. Little discriminations like this that happen everyday and will never be rectified add up to the larger societal problem. Will they say something?
They had gone on with their conversation, but I forgot what they said. I felt horrible for that man that wasn’t getting that job. Although I was still looking down at my book, I wanted to look at their faces. Did they see me? I’m obviously black. I looked up at them and into their faces. I don’t know if they noticed me. I don’t know what I was looking for on their faces, but I guess I didn’t find it. I went back to my book. I hope I just misunderstood.
Comments