Packed train, rush hour, standing-room only:
Middle-aged man with Down’s syndrome, complaining to the train conductor through the emergency intercom system that he had to stop the train and force someone to give him their seat. “These are all bad people on this train,” he said. “I have special needs, and no one will give me their seat.”
“But what do you want me to do?” the conductor’s voice said. “The intercom is for emergencies only.”
“It IS an emergency,” said the man with Down’s. “I need a seat, and no one will give me one. People take advantage. They always take advantage of me on the metro.”
“There’s nothing I can do about that, sir,” the conductor’s voice said. “Please don’t use the intercom again unless it’s really an emergency.” We were all looking at the man with Down’s Syndrome. He continued to argue with the conductor that it was an emergency. We were very bad people, and something should be done about it.
One other detail: his pants had fallen down completely and lay about his ankles. His white underwear and bare legs gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights. No one gave him a seat, and no one pulled his pants up.
You gotta love the metro.
Fuck me, that was really an emergency!
Mmmm, treading on thin ice with this subject!
Well… Really unconfortable, my friend. That’s the type of situation I hate and makes me feel a coward cause it shouldn’t be really difficult to react properly.
The lovely world of Metro domains !!!
I hate people more and more since I travel on it :-p
A very complicated situation, RACHEL. I hope you don’t find another one, but I think this is impossible. Metro is full of this situations
FUCKING A!
A POOR GUY WITH NO BRAINS AND NO PANTS ASKING FOR HELP. DOZENS OF PEOPLE AROUND HIM AND NO-ONE MOVES A FINGER ABOUT IT. GREAT! I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE IT.
WHAT WERE ALL THE PEOPLE ON THAT TRAIN WAITING FOR? MAYBE A CAKE THROWN AT HIS FACE TO MAKE HIM LOOK FUNNIER?
I FIND THINGS LIKE THESE A LOT MORE IRRITATING THAN A BUNCH OF IDIOTS DRESSING LIKE MAMMIES DURING A CARNIVAL NIGHT… THIS REALLY, REALLY SHOWS A TOTAL ABSENCE OF SENSIBILITY AND UNDERSTANDING IN MANY PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOUR. NO ONE SEEMS TO GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THE STRUGGLE THAT A PERSON WITH DOWN’S SYNDROME HAS TO LIVE WITH, TRYING TO FIT IN A WORLD THAT ISN’T MADE FOR THEM WHILE EVERYBODY ELSE JUST STARES AT HIM AND DO NOTHING.
I’M SO FUCKING ANGRY THAT I FEEL LIKE CRYING.
The problem for the modern world is that people may have been scared of offering to help with his pants (trousers, I’m British!), as they may be accused of “inappropriate touching”. It’s the age old story of “keeping yourself to yourself” and not getting involved.
On a similar note, I was once in the “special” section of the train with my baby in his pram and nobody moved from the seats (even though there were seats available elsewhere). I said something to the carriage as a whole, very politely, and a woman laid into me, saying that she had been awake since 6am therefore had as much right as me to sit down in the special section. Nobody moved… It is a sad world indeed…
Vida en la ciuad=Deshumanización
Living in the city= No human