The Bad Example

Sometimes I'm glad when someone else does the thing I sort of contemplated doing, and shows me how bad it would have been to have done it myself.

I was almost finished with my long trip to the Bronx on the 1 line, when a new person entered the other end of the car and started playing loud music.

It is legal to play music on the subway, as long as headphones are used.

At first, I was annoyed and felt like saying something. But a moment later, a man started singing to the music.

In an instant, I changed from hating the music to loving it.

As the train approached my stop, the performer was before me collecting change. He was wearing a traditional South American outfit and carting some kind of sound system on a hand truck.

An irate passenger walked up to the performer and told him that he should not be playing loud music on the subway. The performer didn't understand. He started speaking to another passenger in Spanish. The other passenger explained that the man didn't know English.

The irate passenger got more angry. He complained that the music was a violation of his privacy and against the law.

The other passengers looked annoyed and rolled their eyes at each other. The performer was apprehensive. The Spanish-speaking passenger explained that this was the way the man made money. It only bothered passengers for a few moments, and many of them enjoyed the music. He made a big show of defiantly placing a bill in the performer's hand. He was clearly angry with the irate passenger, who was shouting that playing music on the subway was illegal.

The doors opened, and the irate passenger got out. I was walking behind him and hoping no one thought we were related in any way. He was still fuming and I was still wondering why someone would get so angry about a performance that lasted less than two minutes.