Who’s Sitting Next to You on the Subway? An R Train in September
Two years ago I got on the NYC subway, the 3 train, headed to work near Columbus Circle, and after a few recent arguments (people stepping on my feet, accidentally dumping water on me) I&#x27;d resolved to be more zen during the crowded morning rush hour. I&#x27;d just read this article (<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dailymail.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;article-2960791&#x2F;Commuter-swears-man-way-interview-man-recruiter.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.dailymail.co.uk&#x2F;news&#x2F;article-2960791&#x2F;Commuter-swe...</a>) that morning about a guy who said FU to a commuter, only to be interviewed by him later that day, and I said, I have to be more tolerant on the subway.<p>Anyway, I sat in the last seat reading a book when, at Chambers St, a large middle-aged white woman sat down next to me and elbowed me in the stomach -- hard. Dude on her right immediately got up, wanting no part of it, and she slid over, taking up both seats, then proceeded to mutter profanity at me. &quot;F&#x27;ng a----. Motherf----er.&quot; etc etc.<p>Not even sure why she was mad at me, I guess she wanted more room, but I was on the end and I&#x27;m relatively skinny (32&quot; waist, FWIW) so I&#x27;m not sure what the beef was. Just crazy, I guess.<p>Normally I would angrily confront a stranger who just punched me in the stomach and started swearing at me for no good reason but I thought, &quot;Hey, I just resolved a few hours ago to be zen on the subway, am I going to break my new resolution on the first day?&quot;<p>Fast-forward through the rest of the subway ride, I said and did nothing while she kept muttering profanity (and staring right at me). We got off at the same stop but I grabbed a beverage while she went her way.<p>Five minutes later I entered the lobby of my office and there she was. She turned around, saw me, and went white. as. a. ghost. I was worried I&#x27;d have to call 911.<p>Turns out she was a contractor who had just started at my company that week, and her direct boss was a good friend of mine.<p>My friend didn&#x27;t fire her (right away, anyway) b&#x2F;c she needed the help and just found the story funny but they did end up terminating her two months later because (surprise surprise) she had an anger problem. They actually waited for her to leave for the day, then called her and told her not to come back in b&#x2F;c they were afraid of what she&#x27;d do in person.<p>Moral of the story: don&#x27;t get into commute rage fights. They&#x27;re not worth it! And you never know who you&#x27;re getting into a fight with. Be nice to people on the subway.