e martë, 12 qershor 2007

Able-Bodied Wuss Who Takes Seat On The Metro While Old Lady Is Forced To Stand

Today I encountered a revealing example of the wussification of America on my way home from work. At 5:00pm, the Metro was packed with the evening rush hour crowd. As customary, every single seat was taken, commuters were jammed into the aisles. As the train moved slowly into Virginia, people began to get off, and at the third stop a seat finally cleared up. What happened next? Some guy--late 20s, longish curly hair, horn-rimmed glasses, hipster jeans, tight shirt, carrying one of those handbag-like briefcases slung over his shoulder and reading a novel--immediately grabbed the seat for himself, completely ignoring an old lady, perhaps 75 years old, who had moved toward the seat but was not fast enough. The old lady was instead forced to stand clutching onto the side of the car for the remainder of her trip home. The guy had no idea what he had just done; he was immersed in his novel.