Monday, October 02, 2006

Mass Transit Stories


There are so many things one can say about riding the mass transit system in New York City; it’s a separate universe from the rest of the city. While riding the subway you’ll often see mini soap operas, slices of people’s lives. The vignettes only last as long as it takes to reach the stop of the players or the audience. Here’s a couple that I was privy to…

Saturday: “Yo those niggas are stealing our culture!”

Reina and I were on the subway on our way home alongside a group of white suburban rocker kids down for a night of clubbing in the city. The kids were irked at what they were seeing. Urban trends are slow to reach the ‘burbs so what they were seeing was new to them minority ghetto fab kids rocking converses, leather wrist bands and chains on their jeans, oh my! This has long been the standard uniform of hard core rock and punk followers. But not too long ago when it became alright for rockers and hip hoppers to admit that they were influenced by and were feeling each others music did the line between the two musical genres become blurred. Artists like Jay-z and Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Method Man started recording together creating mashes. All this mashing started having an influence on fashion as well. The suburban kids on the subway were not feeling that at all. They were downright unhappy about it.

“Yo son these niggas are stealing our culture yo!” Theys be rocking the chains and shit . Yo that shit is ill son.” While the white kid raged on about the urban kids “stealing” their culture he was speaking in pure ghetto hood slang. I’d like to point out these kids looked like the closest they’ve ever been to the hood is watching “ Boyz in The Hood” on DVD.

As the kid kept popping crap he kept delving deeper and deeper into urban hood lexicon. I just looked at him and started laughing and in my most ghetto-est of ghetto-est accents; “Yea son then niggas stay jocking the rocker culture yo waddup with that son?” I said to Reina who just started cracking up, “Shhhh Mia!” Just then some black kids in “rocker” gear got on the train and the white kids reverted back to proper English not once did the word “nigga” escape their lips. Smart kids! The 34th street station came up and they got off.



Sunday: “I am GOD!”

I was on my way to meet Angie when this lady got on the bus with her 6 year old son. She asked him to sit down just in case the bus came to a sudden stop or something. The kid didn’t want to sit she tried explaining to him why it was important for him to sit. She touched his arm trying to get him to sit.

Boy : Don’t touch my face!

Mother : (calmly) I didn’t touch your face I touched your arm. Please sit down.

Boy: you’re NOT my father you can’t tell me what to do.

Mother : Look right now I am God!

I expected the mom to launch into the “I brought you into this world and I will take you out of this world” speech but she didn’t. Instead the brat decided to tell his mother off. They continued to bicker back and forth.

Mother : I will not tolerate the behavior that your father does now sit down!


The bus driver and a few of the passengers looked like they wanted to slap the stuffing out of the kid. To be honest he was plucking my last nerve as well. If I had dared to talk like that to my mother as a kid I would be sitting here typing this out while wearing dentures.

Mother : Look you’re starting to piss me off

Boy: No YOU’RE starting to piss me off!

“SLAP!” and all fell silent. The child said no more, he didn’t even dare wail in agony. He looked at his mother in shock. God had spoken. The bus stopped and I had to get off.

Labels: bus stories, subway stories

Posted by @ 1:42 AM
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