Beitlers in NYC

It’s been a while since I’ve posted.  All my writing energy is going into school.  But yesterday something happened that’s just too incredible to keep to myself.

I actually had to be somewhere relatively early, which meant that I was in the subway station during rush hour.  I had two bags and a latte in my hands so I decided to sit down on one of the three seats that were empty on a bench in the station.  I was sipping on my latte and listening to tunes when I realized the lady sitting to my right was trying to talk to me.  I was startled as I noticed little bits of her breakfast ready to fly out of her toothless mouth, inevitably landing somewhere on my face.  Then I was even more startled as I realized she was trying to talk to me.

“I can’t hear you,” I said.

“Then take off your fucking headphones,” she screamed in response.

“I don’t want to take off my headphones,” I replied, trying to remain calm.  This lady was crazy.  Why would I want to take off my headphones?  Sensing she was losing my attention, she stepped in front of me, bent over slightly, and wagged her ass in my face.  Flabbergasted might be a word that describes how I was feeling.  I looked at the lady to my left who just shrugged.

As the woman returned to her spot on the bench, I made the decision to try to ignore her.  After all, I had my headphones on; however, even though they were noise-canceling headphones, they could not drown out her screaming.  After another two minutes or so, I decided to move – as much for myself as the other people around me who had to listen to the screaming crazy lady.  So I crossed the platform and moved about 15 feet away.  She continued to shout at me across the crowded platform, although I think most people assumed she was just shouting randomly.

I don’t know what I did to the woman.  And actually, I don’t even know what she was saying.  I made the decision to keep my headphones on.  Even though I was curious what she was saying, I didn’t want to get angry.  I thought remaining in the dark would make it easier to laugh later.  The woman continued to berate me, publicly, until my train came and as the train pulled away, she was still screaming in my direction.