NYC Rage
November 29, 2005 7:17 AM Subscribe
New York, in this city that is the finest achievement of modern American urban life
It's like 1919 all over again.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 7:27 AM on November 29, 2005
It's like 1919 all over again.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 7:27 AM on November 29, 2005
I think a subway ride with*out* someone screaming (or at least stinking) would be wierd...
posted by allkindsoftime at 7:31 AM on November 29, 2005
posted by allkindsoftime at 7:31 AM on November 29, 2005
Hey, I'm just a simple midwestern kid unaccustomed to these jaded urbanites.
posted by Tlogmer at 7:31 AM on November 29, 2005
posted by Tlogmer at 7:31 AM on November 29, 2005
I'm more surprised at the claim that you could hear the screams over the sounds of the subway cars. Those things are loud.
posted by Godbert at 7:47 AM on November 29, 2005
posted by Godbert at 7:47 AM on November 29, 2005
Anger is the orangutan's effulgent orange ass.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:50 AM on November 29, 2005
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:50 AM on November 29, 2005
I think someone spelling "weird" correctly would be weird.
posted by QuietDesperation at 8:29 AM on November 29, 2005
posted by QuietDesperation at 8:29 AM on November 29, 2005
If it's the end product of 7,000 years of urban technology, where are the public restrooms cleaned hourly by robots?
posted by raysmj at 8:38 AM on November 29, 2005
posted by raysmj at 8:38 AM on November 29, 2005
Maybe they're pissed about the disruption to service on the L train?
posted by UKnowForKids at 10:49 AM on November 29, 2005
posted by UKnowForKids at 10:49 AM on November 29, 2005
Jed,
Your prose is a pleasure to read. You piece is incredibly funny (in its dark way) as well, and true, too.
Yeah. ROTF here, too.
posted by Dizzy Bint at 11:12 AM on November 29, 2005
Your prose is a pleasure to read. You piece is incredibly funny (in its dark way) as well, and true, too.
Yeah. ROTF here, too.
posted by Dizzy Bint at 11:12 AM on November 29, 2005
1988, the 2 train up Broadway. Express between 72th and 96th. Late rush, the cars are crowded. A raggedy clown resembling Grandmaster Flash, with oversized Elton John sunglasses and a technicolor dreamcoat, comes through from the next car as we depart.
He is carrying a battered clarinet. We don't pay attention to this, or his blather about living on the streets, yelled over train noise. So far, this is normal.
Then he bleats the clarinet. It is a tone not dulcet or demure, but a wail of transferred pain, from him to us. The entire car looks his way, shocked. All he asks is a little money, a few dollars for dinner, and he'll go to the next car. He bleats again. Secretaries cover their ears; college students look up from their books. Some woman at his end argues with him in a thick Bronx jive. He ignores her and makes another plea for cash, preferably bills. One or two people hand him coins and urge him on.
That ain't nearly enough to get a cup of coffee no more, he announces. And lifts the clarinet again. As it shrieks in broadcast agony, there is movement. A very large man in a tee and crew cut moves toward Flash and grabs the clarinet out of his hands. There is a pause; none of us knows where this is going.
Flash demands his property back. The large man holds it up, out of his reach. The pushback from the passengers grows to a crescendo of ethnic slurs and catcalls and threats. The bum reaches again for the clarinet, and the large man swings it violently against a stanchion, which makes a sound surprisingly compatible with the train's own squealed protestations of steel-wheeled travel. He drops it to the floor, and stomps on the horn of the clarinet, crushing it into a thin grotesque Mick Jagger sneer. He returns to his position by the side doorway. He has not spoken a single word.
Flash grabs at the abused instrument, and moves down past me to the door leading to the next car.
There is applause, but no curtain. We're all nearly home.
posted by dhartung at 12:26 PM on November 29, 2005
He is carrying a battered clarinet. We don't pay attention to this, or his blather about living on the streets, yelled over train noise. So far, this is normal.
Then he bleats the clarinet. It is a tone not dulcet or demure, but a wail of transferred pain, from him to us. The entire car looks his way, shocked. All he asks is a little money, a few dollars for dinner, and he'll go to the next car. He bleats again. Secretaries cover their ears; college students look up from their books. Some woman at his end argues with him in a thick Bronx jive. He ignores her and makes another plea for cash, preferably bills. One or two people hand him coins and urge him on.
That ain't nearly enough to get a cup of coffee no more, he announces. And lifts the clarinet again. As it shrieks in broadcast agony, there is movement. A very large man in a tee and crew cut moves toward Flash and grabs the clarinet out of his hands. There is a pause; none of us knows where this is going.
Flash demands his property back. The large man holds it up, out of his reach. The pushback from the passengers grows to a crescendo of ethnic slurs and catcalls and threats. The bum reaches again for the clarinet, and the large man swings it violently against a stanchion, which makes a sound surprisingly compatible with the train's own squealed protestations of steel-wheeled travel. He drops it to the floor, and stomps on the horn of the clarinet, crushing it into a thin grotesque Mick Jagger sneer. He returns to his position by the side doorway. He has not spoken a single word.
Flash grabs at the abused instrument, and moves down past me to the door leading to the next car.
There is applause, but no curtain. We're all nearly home.
posted by dhartung at 12:26 PM on November 29, 2005
Was that the "Martian music" guy? Man, I hated him. I'd have paid money to see his instrument stomped.
/NYC subway rage
posted by languagehat at 12:53 PM on November 29, 2005
/NYC subway rage
posted by languagehat at 12:53 PM on November 29, 2005
I thought it was OK, if a bit self-important.
I disagree here though:
We were physically exhausted from the angry contest of our day, and we had no energy left to avail ourselves of the cool relief of riot
I just think that New Yorkers are too self-obsessed. If it doesn't happen there, it doesn't happen.
After all, New York is nothing if not a whore--why not capitalize on its wealth?
That graph was great. Again, I don't think that rage is unique to NYC, however.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:07 PM on November 29, 2005
I disagree here though:
We were physically exhausted from the angry contest of our day, and we had no energy left to avail ourselves of the cool relief of riot
I just think that New Yorkers are too self-obsessed. If it doesn't happen there, it doesn't happen.
After all, New York is nothing if not a whore--why not capitalize on its wealth?
That graph was great. Again, I don't think that rage is unique to NYC, however.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:07 PM on November 29, 2005
Again, I don't think that rage is unique to NYC, however.
Well, we do it best. Our new city motto is: Get outta my fuckin' way!
posted by jonmc at 1:27 PM on November 29, 2005
Well, we do it best. Our new city motto is: Get outta my fuckin' way!
posted by jonmc at 1:27 PM on November 29, 2005
languagehat: googling "martian music subway" turned up four almost identical stories -- though mine was the only one with near violence. Looks like he's been honing his schtick for a very long time. I don't remember if he called it "martian music", nor martian headgear, when I saw him.
posted by dhartung at 4:25 PM on November 29, 2005
posted by dhartung at 4:25 PM on November 29, 2005
Well, I hated that guy's writing. Hated it. Pompous, overblown, prissy... yuk. His premise is bullshit, too. New York isn't a particularly angry city; certainly not for one of its size and density. It's a hell of a lot friendlier than London, for example. New York is one of the friendliest big cities I know, and I don't like this guy playing up the myth just to make himself feel a bit special. Which is what this article reads like to me.
posted by Decani at 5:08 PM on November 29, 2005
posted by Decani at 5:08 PM on November 29, 2005
Just spent 2 weeks in NYC right next to Times square, down in Chelsea and then up in Harlem.
Saw a lot of self righteous panhandling on the subway, lots of great art, and a whole slab load of the packaged american dream.
But anger??
Frustration, and some impatience yes, anger..no different to any other major city ive been to or lived in.
I was actually surprised when people appologized to each other when they knocked each other on the street considering NY's rep. In Tokyo, its quite common to see people knock into someone - simply look at them with blank faces or ignore the other person completely and keep going.
The linked prose seems sensationalist to the nth degree.
posted by rawfishy at 8:34 PM on November 29, 2005
Saw a lot of self righteous panhandling on the subway, lots of great art, and a whole slab load of the packaged american dream.
But anger??
Frustration, and some impatience yes, anger..no different to any other major city ive been to or lived in.
I was actually surprised when people appologized to each other when they knocked each other on the street considering NY's rep. In Tokyo, its quite common to see people knock into someone - simply look at them with blank faces or ignore the other person completely and keep going.
The linked prose seems sensationalist to the nth degree.
posted by rawfishy at 8:34 PM on November 29, 2005
Preach it, Decani.
Ugh. It reads like an eighth grader found an old thesaurus.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:34 PM on November 29, 2005
Ugh. It reads like an eighth grader found an old thesaurus.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:34 PM on November 29, 2005
Ugh. It reads like an eighth grader found an old thesaurus.
I think that's a little harsh. The essay is well-written, and, as a city resident who works the 9-to-5 in midtown, I think it's a pretty accurate description too, although the “anger” portion is a bit exaggerated. But hey, I think the exaggeration adds to overall sentiment of the essay and serves it well.
posted by tiger yang at 7:52 AM on November 30, 2005
I think that's a little harsh. The essay is well-written, and, as a city resident who works the 9-to-5 in midtown, I think it's a pretty accurate description too, although the “anger” portion is a bit exaggerated. But hey, I think the exaggeration adds to overall sentiment of the essay and serves it well.
posted by tiger yang at 7:52 AM on November 30, 2005
I think that's a little harsh. The essay is well-written
Sure it's well-written. If your definition of "well-written" is "didn't make any grammatical mistakes and used a few nice words".
Mine isn't.
posted by Decani at 8:03 PM on November 30, 2005
Sure it's well-written. If your definition of "well-written" is "didn't make any grammatical mistakes and used a few nice words".
Mine isn't.
posted by Decani at 8:03 PM on November 30, 2005
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posted by zekinskia at 7:20 AM on November 29, 2005