The joy of public transportation
May. 18th, 2007 09:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksLast night’s train ride home was icky on so many levels.
First, whoever hawked up wad of phlegm and then aimed poorly on the escalator? Nice.
Next, the guy in the seat in front of me who clipped his toenails. In public. Yes. Ick. When did that kind of grooming become acceptable in public? I can get filing a nail if you’ve chipped or broken a fingernail. But toenails? In public? Eww.
And last, but definitely not least was the truckload of TMI shared by the 19 year old who plopped down in the seat next to me -- sold out train, no spare seats. Her group of friends and ex-boyfriends scattered all over the car. I learned that she’s pregnant; by a guy she dated for 7 months (her longest relationship ever); who is 9 years older than she is; whom she isn’t seeing anymore; that their relationship was based only on sex; that he wants her back; that he proposed to her for the sake of the baby; that her father is shocked that she’s pregnant; that she resents so-and-so’s mother thinking she’s easy or skanky and that the mom is a judgmental bitch for making such a determination when barely knowing her; the she and the ex got tattoos, but her revenge is that his is “gay” while hers (ostensibly chosen for/by him) really matches her brother’s tattoo and so is okay; that the next tattoo will be an anchor (Navy family) with Hello Kitty in uniform on one side; that one of the guys in the seat across the way is an ex; that his father loves her because she was naked in front of him once and not shy about it. I could go on, because she went on and on and on. No off switch. Now, none of it is too terrible, it’s just TMI broadcast to the 10+ people sitting in proximity to her. Does she really want total strangers to know this intimate stuff about her? Mostly, I tried to *not* listen. And after disembarking, I felt a bit sorry for her – being 19 and stupid with it. How does anyone survive that age? I count myself lucky not to have done anything monumentally stupid that rebounded on my life. That’s not to say I didn’t do anything monumentally stupid, just that it didn’t derail my life.
First, whoever hawked up wad of phlegm and then aimed poorly on the escalator? Nice.
Next, the guy in the seat in front of me who clipped his toenails. In public. Yes. Ick. When did that kind of grooming become acceptable in public? I can get filing a nail if you’ve chipped or broken a fingernail. But toenails? In public? Eww.
And last, but definitely not least was the truckload of TMI shared by the 19 year old who plopped down in the seat next to me -- sold out train, no spare seats. Her group of friends and ex-boyfriends scattered all over the car. I learned that she’s pregnant; by a guy she dated for 7 months (her longest relationship ever); who is 9 years older than she is; whom she isn’t seeing anymore; that their relationship was based only on sex; that he wants her back; that he proposed to her for the sake of the baby; that her father is shocked that she’s pregnant; that she resents so-and-so’s mother thinking she’s easy or skanky and that the mom is a judgmental bitch for making such a determination when barely knowing her; the she and the ex got tattoos, but her revenge is that his is “gay” while hers (ostensibly chosen for/by him) really matches her brother’s tattoo and so is okay; that the next tattoo will be an anchor (Navy family) with Hello Kitty in uniform on one side; that one of the guys in the seat across the way is an ex; that his father loves her because she was naked in front of him once and not shy about it. I could go on, because she went on and on and on. No off switch. Now, none of it is too terrible, it’s just TMI broadcast to the 10+ people sitting in proximity to her. Does she really want total strangers to know this intimate stuff about her? Mostly, I tried to *not* listen. And after disembarking, I felt a bit sorry for her – being 19 and stupid with it. How does anyone survive that age? I count myself lucky not to have done anything monumentally stupid that rebounded on my life. That’s not to say I didn’t do anything monumentally stupid, just that it didn’t derail my life.
