Grief Griefing!

I hate homeless people. Uch. They take up space, they smell up that space - as well as all the surrounding space - and are unpleasant debris. The other day on the subway, I encountered one such thing. It was very noticeable: no one was standing near it, despite the fact that the train was packed. My first thought was, “Oh, that’s gross! This is a brand new E train, and now they’re going to have to get a new one already.” Then I turned my attention to the pile itself. There was a mound of dirty clothes, underneath which resembled the shape of a human, with two garbage bags next to it. It was seated but sprawled over at an impossible position, managing to take up three seats. I realized why people were avoiding that part of the train. There were 2 reasons: (1) The smell. (2) It’s rare, but occasionally you can get lucky on the train. If a seated passenger gets off before your exit, you have a mathematical chance at securing that seat. We all knew that homeless guy wasn’t leaving; if he disembarked from the train, he’d be homesick. So nobody in their right mind wanted to stand near a filthy section of 3 seats that was guaranteed to remain taken.

On the E train this morning, there was a homeless woman with 2 black garbage bags, which presumably contained all her possessions. After we pulled into the 71^st Ave. station and waited for a considerable amount of time, a cop boarded the train and approached this woman. Then the following exchange took place. Cop: Can I speak with you for a minute on the platform? Homeless Woman: Sad look. Cop: You’re not in trouble; I just want to ask you something. Homeless Woman: Sad look. Cop: Let me help you with your things. As soon as she exited the train, the doors closed and we were on our way. Thanks, officer, for improving the neighborhood and taking out the trash! Give that cop an A.