I enter a subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan, with my mother, on a scalding Summer morning. Upon entering the train, we notice a homeless man, who is not possessing a pleasantly fragrant smell, so we kindly walk a few rows down and take our seat. We think nothing more of this.
As this is a local train, it makes stops in every neighborhood, so the duration of the train ride is about twice as long as an express train. People enter the train and exit the train, rapidly. And as they do so, I take note that many of these locals are exiting more frequently, than usual. I, soon, realize that this is due to the stench, that seems to be emitting from the gentleman my mother and I took note of, upon setting foot in the train.
Appalled, I begin to act as if I am taking selfies, but I am not. I am, actually, taking photographs of the train occupants and their seemingly clever ways of plugging their noses, to avoid the smell. As I take these photographs, I begin to ponder, why do my peers seem to find plugging their noses more socially acceptable, than kindly sitting in their seat and going about their day, as usual?
In exception to one woman, appearing to be upper-class, the train is filled with people, plugging their noses, nearly humorously. Unacceptable, I think, unacceptable. So, I open Safari and begin to search: “NYC”, when I find:
“You haven’t lived, until you’ve died in New York.”
-Alexander Woollcott
“There is something in the New York air that makes sleep useless.”
-Simone de Beauvoir
“This isn’t a fairytale; this is New York City.”
-Alexander Flinn Beastly
“A bad day in New York City is a good day anywhere else.”
-Unknown
“One belongs to New York, instantly. One belongs to it as much in five minutes, than five years.”
-John Wolfe
Don’t get me wrong, as a New York University graduate, I completely condone all of the aforementioned. But, in this moment, I wonder why I feel as such? Would this be something that would occur in Brevard, North Carolina, my hometown? Probably not.
To the people on the subway with me, I say:
No matter the reason the gentleman on the train was homeless (i.e., addiction, mental illness, crime), you have bathed, you are sheltered, you are fed, you are well-clothed. You, also, stink. Maybe not the same stench emitted by the gentleman, but your soul stinks. It is people like you that stifle the self-efficacy of the humans, like this gentleman, and perpetuate a vicious, unbreakable cycle. So, again, I say: You are the ones that stink. YOU STINK, YOU.
