This morning I walked down into the subway station and the train was still at the platform! Score! I ran to the turnstyle, swiped my Metrocard (thank god, it went through on the first swipe), made a mad dash for the train and ran into the car through the open doors. Whew, I made it! But the doors aren’t closing.. and the train isn’t moving.. It takes me only a second to figure out why.

Right in front of me (I almost ran into them) is a police woman and a homeless woman in confrontation. The homeless person needs to get off the train and is resisting and the police officer is trying to get her off. The homeless woman is very angry and yelling about her rights as a citizen, how she wasn’t bothering anyone and that she wants a refund for her token. The police officer is telling her that she needs to get off the train, that they’ll get her help if she needs it, that she’s holding everyone up, and apologizing to us for delaying our commute. I don’t know how long the train was stopped for this before I got on it, but it was a considerable amount of time after I got on before the situation was taken care of and the train was free to leave. It was so uncomfortable. There was this tension on the train and no one was looking at each other. All heads were down or pretending to read a book or paper. There was complete silence except for the officer and the homeless.

I’m unsure how I feel about New York’s homeless policies, or that I even know what they are, but what a depressing way for everyone to start their morning.