Most Disgusting Subway Story of My Life
This story was sent out two months ago as the first issue of the Subway Monthly Newsletter. I’m sure many of you have already read it since you are subscribers. After some careful consideration, I felt this story was ready for prime time and deserved to be shared on a more open platform.
Warning: If you have not eaten your lunch yet today, you may want to wait until later to read this story. We promise that if you read this story now, you will not be able to eat another thing for the rest of the day. This story will haunt your dreams. You’ve been warned.
It was a typical weekday morning, on my way to work. I had to leave a little earlier than normal because I had an early meeting. It was just about 7AM when I got to the platform. At that time of the morning, it really isn’t that crowded yet. Actually, its pretty empty usually. By 7:30 though, it is packed. So when I have these early meetings, I try to get to the train by 7am.
Anyway, I was just minding my own business reading some emails on by crackberry when I heard a spraying sound. The sound a garden hose makes.
I looked down the platform and saw a water spray coming from the far side of a news stand. The structure was in the way, so I couldn’t see the person doing the spraying just the water jet itself.
I thought nothing of it really. I figured it was a transit worker spraying down the platform. The newsstand proprietors actually do that from time to time to keep the area around them at least somewhat tidy.
A few minutes past when all of a sudden I started to hear some gasps from the area of the spraying.
With that, the person operating the hose came out from behind the stand. It wasn’t a transit worker at all.
No, it was Dana.
Whos Dana? You may know her as one of the subway homeless people that regularly rides the train asking for handouts. She has all of three teeth in her head, and has had a festering leg wound for about a year now. If you’ve seen her, you’d never forget her mostly for her smell. Whatever is happening with that leg wound makes a smell potent enough to make paint peel.
So there she was with the hose in hand. Doing what you ask? (I’m sure many of you know where this is going already)
Ohh she was taking her morning shower of course.
‘ right. She was standing there completely topless giving herself a good rinse in full view of everyone on the platform. She was wearing a pair of mens jeans that kept slipping a bit. Thankfully, they managed to stay on.
But there she was in her droopy, hairy, smelly birthday suit just splish splashing around like the place was her own little birdbath.
So now picture if you will that vial smell now combined with water. Now it had a new damp, musty quality to it as well.
Friend, when I tell you I had that smell in my nose for 24 hours, believe me. I almost ended own life right there.
Thankfully, I was far enough away to not be caught in the splash zone. Others were not so lucky.
How in the world she got her hands on a hose is still a mystery. The only thing I can think is that the night cleaning crew forgot to put the hose away when they were done. There are water spigots on most platforms that will allow a crew to hose down a platform. The hose was clearly hooked up and turned on.
So I guess Dana just took advantage of the situation while she had the chance.
It is a sensory experience that will haunt me forever.
- 32 Rider Opinions
- Tags: homeless people, subway, typical weekday morning, water spray
Dare I ask what station? hehe
ReplyThis is the most disrespectful thing I have read in a long time. Shame on you.
Reply@chuck: What the hell are you talking about?
ReplyThis person deserves her dignity as much as anyone. Obviously she doesn’t have a place to take a private shower. I am sure she would prefer that people not see her cleaning herself. I am sure she would rather not have to clean herself in freezing water from a hose.
Whether you are the condescending snotbag that wrote this originally or the yahoo that passes the story along for everyone’s amusement, you should be ashamed of yourself. There are plenty of good subway stories out there and that’s what I was hoping to find on this site, but this is the first entry I read. Goodbye.
Reply@chuck: Yet you keeeeeep coming back. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
ReplyI can understand how Dana may need to wash up….but to do it out in public is not called for!
She could’ve easily went to a public restroom….washed up a little….even use the hand soap to clean herself!
What if children were around?
Anyways…I’ve said enough.
Replywow that’s a psychologically scarring experience. I feel sorry for and the rest of the crowd that had to witness it. I think i’ve seen her on the #1 and #4 before. While someone mentions she needs to clean up in private that may be true but now a lot of public places are locking their bathrooms like fast food places b/c the homeless go in and use it to “wash” up and sometimes stay in the bathrooms or loiter in the place.
ReplyThat is true nycgirl!
A lot of public places are locking up their bathrooms now because of this. Did not think of that.
Replyin risk of ppl making judgement on my character, i actually agree with your blog. if it happened to me, i’d be disgusted too.
ReplyThank you. It’s not really a commentary on her situation, which is indeed unfortunate. It is more a commentary on how shocking it is to see something like that in public. Really, I could care less if she does it. It has absolutely no impact on my life. It’s just that initial shock factor that sticks with a person after seeing something like that.
ReplyYour description was so vivid, it was as if I was witnessing it myself…
ReplyI understand how hard it is to push some of the awful subway sights and smells we are subjected to towards the back of our skulls, but frankly, juxtaposing your crackberry life with the miserable existence of this unhappy, unhinged creature didn’t do your story any favors.
She was trying to bathe, she’s obviously not too tightly wrapped, physically or mentally, and she has a wound that undoubtedly keeps her in continual pain, as well as the ability, from the evidence of her washing, to smell herself.
You’ll recover from your haunting sensory experience soon enough.
Replyyou make me smile every day, i know exactly what its like
ReplyI know this has nothing to do with this post, but I thought it was a good comic for this blog. Enjoy! http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/sheeple.png
ReplyUnbelievable! I mean, ugh, what the heck, in the public? Well, I myself have personally encountered similar things, but definitely not in public. And yea… speechless I was.
ReplyI love this blog. Last time I was in NY a man dropped all his cloths in front of me on the subway… dude!
ReplyThis is one hardcore story for sure. Sad in more ways than one can imagine. We live in the USA we pay huge taxes (at least some of us do) and we have a growing population of homeless with no where to go.
ReplyAw, that wasn’t that disgusting…but it is sad for the homeless lady. Nobody deserves that.
ReplyI agree with mining stock! Where are our tax dollars going!
With taxes increasing, we should have more then enough to help out the homeless.
Which leaves me to question where our dollars are going.
(another subject that you do not want me to get into)
Any ways, just like everyone stated, no body deserves that. I really do feel sorry for the homeless lady. But there are quite a number of shelters that do offer help if you truly want it. You just have to go and find them.
ReplyThere’s just too much of this sort of thing happening these days, and now with the way the economy is I guess we can expect to see a lot more of it. Sure it’s a disgusting story, but it’s also very sad too! Don’t you think?
ReplyI can understand that some people are unable to live in the comforts most of us do but there is a time and place to have a shower, and Dana really should know better…I wouldn’t expect anyone to have to watch me take a shower in public and I don’t particularly want to see that either!
ReplyThe lady must have mentality problem, else I believed for normal people won’t be shame in that way in the public. I will not know how to respond to her, if she come and approach me for something else all of the sudden…
ReplyNoooo – thats not nice to see and its not nice for the person whos taking the shower to have thousnads watching I bet!
ReplyWell atleast she was working on good hygiene. It sounds like she is a piece of bread short of a sandwich. Hope that never happens to you again.
ReplySad though that in this land which upholds equality, there still a lot of dejected people like Dana. My question for you is why did you feel like taking your life cause of this?
ReplyWorking in hygiene – not so sure about that…
ReplyYeah, just tell us where is the actual station. I would rather avoid it in the future
ReplyIsn’t there any restrooms on the landings? What if ya just gotta pee.
Replythats not nice to see
ReplyVisit a third world country dude.. And you will never lose your appetite over what you saw..
ReplyVery sad to see such in a 1st world country, but go to Asia or Africa to 3rd world countries and you can witness much worse sights. Very sad that some people have nothing yet others have so much.
ReplyIts refreshing to read a blog where someone is not scared to speak their mind. I have to admit I have seen and smelled a more disgusting sight on a subway, but that’s a story for another day.
Reply