Safe or stupid?
Last night I took the last subway home, just like I had done a hundred times before. It was a little past midnight, and I was sitting in the back of the final carriage. The final carriage is always the fun one.
Here is where all the people sit that don’t want to sit with everyone else, mainly because they are scum and they cannot get up to whatever it is that scum gets up to in any of the other carriages.
At least, that’s my explanation for the assortment of freaks, creeps, junkies and other weird folks that were on the subway with me last night.
There were two black guys with a stereo cranked up way too loud and rapping along with some hip hop track I did not recognize. On the other side were three Skinheads in complete uniform waiting for some trouble to get into.
A few homeless guys were quietly contemplating the meaning of life, while smelling very very bad. Next to them was a junkie who was in the midst of an attempt to snort whatever it was he had in some tin foil.
You might think him doing drugs bothered me, but seeing as some other dude at the other end of the carriage was already smoking a joint and two other guys were smoking cigarettes, I did not really see what a difference it would make.
I was just sitting there reading my book, minding my own business. No one took any notice of me, or cared that I was there. Nothing eventful happened and I got off at my stop, just like I had done a hundred times before.
Walking home I started thinking about the fact that I was the only woman on the subway (and also the only one who wasn’t a big anti-social freak). Even though nothing happened, and nothing has ever happened in all the time I have ridden that subway, it easily could.
I am used to living in big cities. I go out alone at night all the time, and I never worry or feel scared. Sure, I try not to do anything stupid and watch where I’m going and stuff, but apart from that, I hardly think about all the horrible things that could happen to me.
At least, I never let it stop me from going out and living my life the way I want to. I hate it when I hear that so many women do not even go out at night at all, unless there is a dude with them for protection.
Yes, you shouldn’t go walking through dark parks or other deserted places alone in the middle of the night, that’s a very dangerous and stupid thing to do. But c’mon, you really do not need an escort to take the last subway home.
Despite the bunch of freaks riding the subway with me, I never feel unsafe. Is it really not a big deal or am I being stupid?
Here is where all the people sit that don’t want to sit with everyone else, mainly because they are scum and they cannot get up to whatever it is that scum gets up to in any of the other carriages.
At least, that’s my explanation for the assortment of freaks, creeps, junkies and other weird folks that were on the subway with me last night.
There were two black guys with a stereo cranked up way too loud and rapping along with some hip hop track I did not recognize. On the other side were three Skinheads in complete uniform waiting for some trouble to get into.
A few homeless guys were quietly contemplating the meaning of life, while smelling very very bad. Next to them was a junkie who was in the midst of an attempt to snort whatever it was he had in some tin foil.
You might think him doing drugs bothered me, but seeing as some other dude at the other end of the carriage was already smoking a joint and two other guys were smoking cigarettes, I did not really see what a difference it would make.
I was just sitting there reading my book, minding my own business. No one took any notice of me, or cared that I was there. Nothing eventful happened and I got off at my stop, just like I had done a hundred times before.
Walking home I started thinking about the fact that I was the only woman on the subway (and also the only one who wasn’t a big anti-social freak). Even though nothing happened, and nothing has ever happened in all the time I have ridden that subway, it easily could.
I am used to living in big cities. I go out alone at night all the time, and I never worry or feel scared. Sure, I try not to do anything stupid and watch where I’m going and stuff, but apart from that, I hardly think about all the horrible things that could happen to me.
At least, I never let it stop me from going out and living my life the way I want to. I hate it when I hear that so many women do not even go out at night at all, unless there is a dude with them for protection.
Yes, you shouldn’t go walking through dark parks or other deserted places alone in the middle of the night, that’s a very dangerous and stupid thing to do. But c’mon, you really do not need an escort to take the last subway home.
Despite the bunch of freaks riding the subway with me, I never feel unsafe. Is it really not a big deal or am I being stupid?
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