Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Day 1 - See no evil (Pilot)


Before I begin, let me set the stage for you. It’s the beginning of the afternoon rush hour and all of the government workers, government contractors, and tourists are trying to get home. By the time I got on the train, there are a good number of seats remaining. As we travel from stop to stop, the train steadily fills up with passengers eager to arrive to their next destination. As the train door opens at a major station, a few people exit the train as twice as many enter. This is where the story begins: a blind man gets on the train. But this isn't your typical quiet, docile, and focused blind individual with a guiding stick.

Before I noticed our latest passenger, I hear a commotion in the middle of the train car (I am sitting in the front of the train car). At first I thought it could have been one of the three reasons below:
  • someone was complaining that the doors closed on their body part
  • someone fussing because people would not make room for them to enter the train
  • simply just some bad a** kids

This gentleman gets on an already crowded train ranting and raving. I look up and it’s a blind guy causing the entire ruckus. He is screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs. Here are a few of the things he screamed:
  • its too crowded
  • get outta my way
  • and some other sounds that I couldn't make out because it sounded like gibberish

***This is where the thought entered my mind to share this experience with the rest of the world***

He is screaming and the people around him are terrified and don't know what to do or how to respond to his outbursts. As he makes his way from the middle of the car to the front, the crowded train parted like the Red Sea. You would have thought he was the modern day Charlton Heston with a wooden staff standing at the edge of the Red Sea. He gets to a specific part of the train and yells out "sitting down". Let me pause right here to inform you following:
  1. he is blind
  2. people were already sitting in the seat he wants

As another passenger tried to warn him that the seat is occupied, he yells "I can't sit sideways, I can't sit sideways". Apparently, he doesn't like the designated handicapped seats that face sideways on trains. So out of fear and embarrassment, a lady and gentleman jumps out the seats he is requesting and let's him sit down. As soon as he sat down and the train started to move he became quiet and I think I even saw a smirk on his face.

Should I laugh? I must admit that I did smirk for a second, but then I realized what I was doing.

Well, this is my stop. See you next time on the train.

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