Mind Your Manners or Swine Flu Fear

Stained glass window - Myrtle Ave. subway station on the J,M,Z

So the other day Little Joe and I were taking the J train to Queens to see the community mural that Big Joe had just completed. It was raining and the train was filled with dripping, steamy commuters on their way home to Brooklyn and Queens after a long day's work in Manhattan. Luckily my son and I had scored seats and were quietly enjoying the ride. I love the J,M,Z because it's above ground and you actually get to see parts of Brooklyn and Queens you'd never see otherwise.

Suddenly the voice of a shrunken, nearly toothless, black woman, wearing a gold lame shirt and a red wool blazer, rose above the clanking of the train and the low murmur of other people's conversations. She sat across from us and was speaking loudly to someone on our side of the train, who was hidden from view by our fellow seatmates.

4 a.m. I'm up getting ready for work. 4 A.M. 5 a.m. I'm getting the bus. You sleeping. Maybe at 6 a.m. you turning over. 6 a.m. I'm already at work. 6 A.M. THAT'S NO JOKE. I take the train this morning and a homeboy's sitting there (she pointed at the seat to her left). He's talking to his friends and coughing. And he doesn't cover his mouth! And all these people on the train, they don't say nothing! I tell him he better cover his mouth. And he says, 'We got a bonafide crazy woman here.' And I say, 'That's right I'm crazy, you better cover your mouth.' (Then she turned to the two black children sitting to her right and said, 'Cover your ears.' She pointed at their mother who was standing and laughing, and said louder, 'Cover their ears!' which their mother half- heartedly told them to do) So I say, 'You better cover your mouth or I'M GONNA CUT OFF YOUR DICK AND FRY IT UP FOR DINNER!' (she screamed out this last part spraying saliva across the aisle) When I was a child I learned my manners real fast. I was beat every day with a belt, with a switch. I knew to cover my mouth when I had to cough.

Then the man to whom she was talking, who had been murmuring in agreement with everything she was saying, said, "I know. I was brought up old school too. If I didn't learn my manners I got the iron rope. The IRON ROPE!" he said, and stood up to get off the train. That was when I finally saw him, he was a black man in his late thirties and his face was completely covered in long thin scars. As he exited the train, the toothless woman said, "You have a good day now!" And then for the rest of ride she was silent and stared at the floor. I was torn between feeling sympathy for this woman and the hard life she must have had and being terrified, especially after she caught me laughing and gave me the evil eye. While Little Joe just said, "That was nice what that lady said at the end. But it wasn't nice when she was yelling."

On the train back to Bed-Stuy, there was a black woman preacher striding up and down the aisle, who had this amazing warm smile as she preached her fire and brimstone sermon. Usually subway preachers make me cringe, but her delivery actually made me listen with interest.

Look what people miss when they drive to work. Yet another reason to take public transport.