everyone makes fun of me for opting to take a cab or a car service over the subway if it's after like ten. and sometimes i seem kind of paranoid, like when i took the train with my friend jenna because she always does, and this seedy looking guy across from us started motioning at us. i was like "ugggh see this is why i don't take the train!" and then we realized he was telling us jenna had dropped her hat on the floor.
but honestly, today reinforced the reason i prefer to spend the ten bucks on a car. it was about 10:30 when i finished my shift at the bookstore, so i figured that was close enough and i could just take the train. so i get on, and notice no one is sitting on the end of the car where i am. it's because there's a guy who has taken his shoes and jacket off and is lounging across a bunch of seats. i figured i'm a native brooklynite, right, so i should be tough enough to deal with it. after a couple of stops, i notice that he's stood up, and i think "oh, well maybe he's putting his clothes back on." i glance over and see that he's in a sort of squat lunge and, i think, rubbing his balls. that or taking a shit. so i gave up and moved over to where the other four or five people in the car were sitting. after i moved, he sat in the seat where i had been, and kept looking at me till i reached my stop. so there.
it's like yeah, maybe half the time nothing at all happens and its fine. but i'm not down with how scared i feel when i come in contact with the train crazies. i guess if you're with someone else it's not so bad, but when it's just you and a crazy, that shit gets real. and several times, there has been real shit.