There’s a fine line between saving time in the morning and being downright disgusting and rude to your fellow commuters on the bus and train.
Personally, I think I’ve seen it all. Just the other morning, I was taking the commuter train into work. The car I was riding in was filled with the A-typical people for an early morning commute. Gentlemen in business attire were frantically typing away on their laptops, desperate to finish whatever work they we doing on time. Newspaper pages were rustling, creating the infamous, “Don’t Bother with Me” privacy shield utilized by so many of the morning’s passengers. And a few the ladies on board were touching up their makeup, as the heat and humidity of a typical July Boston morning was adding a bit too much shine to their faces for their liking.
Yup, it certainly seemed that a typical a.m. ride into work was in the process of unfolding. Then it happened. The subway doors opened at the next stop. A woman, probably in her mid-twenties, jumped on board as if she were escaping the clutches of some ferocious beast. She was panting like she just finished a triathlon, and she looked like it, too. I probably wouldn’t have noticed her, even though I’m an avid fan of “people-watching”, but when she sat down, she let out a yelp like the ferocious beast chasing her had bit off her leg.
I’m not sure why she did this, as it was something that I would have half-expected if she were with a traveling companion, but she was alone. She was wearing capri-type leggings and a tank top, running shoes upon her feet. Her hair was up in a clip. She carried two travel bags- one of the hanging garment type, and one that was more of a personal size. My mind then wandered out the window, but I could still see her reflection, and therefore I could see what she was doing.
She stood up, hung the garment bag on the handrail, and unzipped the carrier to reveal a nicely pressed skirt and jacket- pale yellow in color. She proceeded to put the skirt over her capris, then remove the short pants and toss them in a ball onto the empty seat next to her. (This was nothing new to me, as I’ve seen pretty much everything on the train.) She finished putting on her business attire and I continued to look out the window as we approached our next stop. That’s when things got disturbing.
She took off her jacket and begun to spray an aerosol deodorant under her arms. Okay, that was a bit much—roll on or solid is fine, but aerosol? I didn’t even know that they made that kind anymore. Anyways, she pulled the clip out of her hair and began brushing a knotted mess of tresses, hair flying everywhere which I only noticed because a newly arrived, gentleman passenger, who was sitting very close to her, took out a lint brush from his briefcase and began to brush the hair off of his navy, pin-striped blazer.
Hairspray followed her hair brushing, and of course, it was an aerosol container, leaving a ferocious smell of deodorant and hairspray lingering in the sardine container known as a subway car. As if this wasn’t enough, the train had begun to slow, taking significantly longer to make it’s way through the underground city than usual.
This was, of course, noticed by the female passenger of the day, who grunted uncontrollably, as her day was obviously being altered by this unfortunate set of delays. She then opened up her personal-sized travel bag and took out nail polish remover and nail polish. She then took off her sneakers and socks (now remember, she just looked like she had ran, swam and biked in them) and began to remove the nail polish on her toes with a large ball of cotton and enough of the remover to take the paint off of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Now the train reeked of aerosol deodorant and hairspray, sweaty feet, plus nail polish remover. When she finished removing the polish, she took out an emery board and began filing her toenails. Ew. The dust created by such a personal task was floating everywhere, and the new smell just added nicely to the ones already permeating the air.
Next, she painted her toenails… a hideous, bright-pink that couldn’t even be seen hidden under the pale yellow pumps she put on afterwards, but could be seen from space if her toes exposed to the air. So now we had the combined smells of deodorant, hairspray, sweaty feet, filed toenails, nail polish remover and nail polish. No windows could be opened. I told myself that if she added some cheap perfume to the mix that I would get off at the next stop, go home and call into work sick because I definitely was going to be.
Low and behold, it seems that nearly every passenger had the same idea, for before the next stop, an unnamable bottle of the “$6.95-Special” perfume was pulled out of her travel bag. I saw newspapers fold up, laptops get put back into their bags, and people gathering their belongings- having had just about enough and ready to make a break for it.
I got off at the next stop, and so did the majority of other passengers that morning. Some of these folks ran up the stairs and escalators of the subway station, eager to repay their fare after getting just a few moments of toxic-free air. Others simply waited for the next train, as the smell of the subway was obviously clean enough for them.
The next morning on the train, the same commuters sat in their regular seats in the midst of their regular routine. One woman in the back of the car spoke- a bit loudly, about the morning before and attempted to create a pact with the passengers that if the “smelly girl” attempted to get back on the train, the passengers should hold some sort of revolt.
Many of that morning’s commuters laughed, and came up with some ideas of their own as to what to do with the “smelly girl”. I myself just sat back and laughed to myself, and gazed out the window yet again.
All I have to say is this: If you’re running late, or simply need a bit of extra time in the morning, by all means, apply some of your makeup or whatever on the train. In fact, enjoy it! We could all use an extra few minutes in the morning, and as long as you’re not bothering fellow commuters, I don’t have a problem with anything that anyone does. But when you create noxious fumes that leave co-passengers in an enclosed area gasping for air or near a coma-like state, then you have some serious issues.
2 Comments »
Recent Comments