Do I block out the screams?
He mumbled on the train.
"...Took her off"
Passengers nearby averted their eyes, kept up the hushed conversations as his mumblings got louder.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh they .... they... they.... had to take..... her head and take it off the train."
His voice went into a shrill cry, that sounded almost like a whine, occasionally stopping for a bark or two as he got air back into his lungs. His face was scrunched up in horror, sweat pouring from his forehead.
The conversation keeps moving on, a British couple and their son carry on in soft proper elocution, as the shrieks and yells get higher. Eventually the sounds stop and the couple smile, their son, disinterested, carries on with his disparaging looks at the world. The African gentleman seated to the right of man rolls his eyes and sighs, indifference kept on his face with practice, he keeps a slight distance from the yells, but he stays there. For that, for some strange reason, he has my respect. I sit with my eyes firmly on the two of them, my tired mind only just making the connection between the screams and the man. Already I've disassociated myself from the event and in my tired mind see only wasted hours trying to confront the man.
Indifferently my mind disconnects the yells from the man, and all that can be heard are the trains relentless march across a terrified man's face.
######
Seems a shitty thing to do switching off like that in the face of what is clearly a man in trouble, though whether it's deep seated, or just a product of the night's events I don't know. I dissociated and I washed my hands of it. Hell I almost forgot about it till I started to watch "In Bob We Trust," which is kind of a piss poor excuse for remembering about people in need.
I was haggled for some money (successfully) by a man who was a smooth talker, I gave up more than I should have through his quick talking ways "Just some change, I'll just swap you some silver for that gold, that'll be good," and then like that he was gone. Happy Easter he said, and walked off.
There was a lady on some sort of drugs that couldn't operate, she tried to drink a bottle of water and ended up spilling it on the train all over the floor. Not in a clumsy way, where she fumbled. The water bottle tipped over next to her slowly pouring onto the floor. She looked at it amused before handing it back to whoever she borrowed it off and staggering off the train.
There was that girl, who just broke up with her boyfriend over the phone who was a sobbing mess, the very image of bereaving - mascara running down her cheeks, her face in a grief mask, her arms dangling uselessly beside her. All I could think was that I was too tired for this and watched her walk on. Another bloke - guy came up to her and gave her a hug, asking what was wrong. His eyes met mine when he was asking her questions. I gave a nod in recognition, and forgot about it as I stepped on the train.
Life is interesting, and I guess it's easy to forget those unpleasant parts of our lives, or just times when you could've maybe done more. It's almost too much to help in some cases, but for others you do what you can.
- Just something I wanted to get off my chest. There seems to be a lot more homeless people/strange sad happenings happening around the city. Maybe I should try doing something a bit more for others.
Dan
"...Took her off"
Passengers nearby averted their eyes, kept up the hushed conversations as his mumblings got louder.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh they .... they... they.... had to take..... her head and take it off the train."
His voice went into a shrill cry, that sounded almost like a whine, occasionally stopping for a bark or two as he got air back into his lungs. His face was scrunched up in horror, sweat pouring from his forehead.
The conversation keeps moving on, a British couple and their son carry on in soft proper elocution, as the shrieks and yells get higher. Eventually the sounds stop and the couple smile, their son, disinterested, carries on with his disparaging looks at the world. The African gentleman seated to the right of man rolls his eyes and sighs, indifference kept on his face with practice, he keeps a slight distance from the yells, but he stays there. For that, for some strange reason, he has my respect. I sit with my eyes firmly on the two of them, my tired mind only just making the connection between the screams and the man. Already I've disassociated myself from the event and in my tired mind see only wasted hours trying to confront the man.
Indifferently my mind disconnects the yells from the man, and all that can be heard are the trains relentless march across a terrified man's face.
######
Seems a shitty thing to do switching off like that in the face of what is clearly a man in trouble, though whether it's deep seated, or just a product of the night's events I don't know. I dissociated and I washed my hands of it. Hell I almost forgot about it till I started to watch "In Bob We Trust," which is kind of a piss poor excuse for remembering about people in need.
I was haggled for some money (successfully) by a man who was a smooth talker, I gave up more than I should have through his quick talking ways "Just some change, I'll just swap you some silver for that gold, that'll be good," and then like that he was gone. Happy Easter he said, and walked off.
There was a lady on some sort of drugs that couldn't operate, she tried to drink a bottle of water and ended up spilling it on the train all over the floor. Not in a clumsy way, where she fumbled. The water bottle tipped over next to her slowly pouring onto the floor. She looked at it amused before handing it back to whoever she borrowed it off and staggering off the train.
There was that girl, who just broke up with her boyfriend over the phone who was a sobbing mess, the very image of bereaving - mascara running down her cheeks, her face in a grief mask, her arms dangling uselessly beside her. All I could think was that I was too tired for this and watched her walk on. Another bloke - guy came up to her and gave her a hug, asking what was wrong. His eyes met mine when he was asking her questions. I gave a nod in recognition, and forgot about it as I stepped on the train.
Life is interesting, and I guess it's easy to forget those unpleasant parts of our lives, or just times when you could've maybe done more. It's almost too much to help in some cases, but for others you do what you can.
- Just something I wanted to get off my chest. There seems to be a lot more homeless people/strange sad happenings happening around the city. Maybe I should try doing something a bit more for others.
Dan