Man on train

Of late there are quite a few homeless people riding the trains of NY and some are more aggressive than usual. One night when coming home from work, seeing the same people I have seen night after night who inevitably were also drudging home from a long day at work, we encountered a homeless man who stormed onto the crowded train and said expletively that if anyone of us got in his way he would kill all of us on the car. He literally jumped on the train as soon as the doors opened and screamed at the top of his lungs this threat and the mood of exhaustion shifted into one of righteous indignation and pugilism among its riders. Suffice to say this guy picked the wrong train in which to act crazy and murderous because most of us on the train started putting away whatever reading material we had to get our hands free, looked at each other, and with that eye contact between us, the message was communicated that this guy would get jumped and stomped on at the first hint of him acting out the aggressive moves he proclaimed he would make. The mood on the train became especially electric, especially silent.

The homeless guy, while certifiable crazy when he initially got on the train in his declaring and ranting of his murderous intent, suddenly became aware he was about to get hurt for such declarations upon gauging the swift changing of the mood of the train that read clearly to all who felt it. Everyone else on the car of that train was also made aware that this homeless guy would not make it a step further were he to act in any way aggressive. Suddenly this homeless guy acted appropriately, and in moving through the crowded train to get to the next car of the train to undoubtedly escape the glares of his fellow riders, he repeatedly said, "excuse me, excuse me," to all who were standing per the seats all being occupied, all of whom turned to face him as he passed, daring him with eyes full of the same aggressiveness he had when he entered screaming his intent to hurt people.

I have never been a part of a mob before that day, but that fateful day on that train, I appreciated the fact that I was, as it, my mob, quelled the ability of one person to scare people into a state of hopelessness on a train ride home. Life is perilous enough without a strange someone adding to that element.