Another Train Story

I boarded the train this afternoon, it was a little earlier than prime time so the train was maybe half full. Even though there were plenty of seats, there was an older man standing by the doors. He was carrying a well-worn backpack, and was dressed in a polo shirt, black pants, and wearing black shoes. His clothes were well kept but not new. He had a sweet round face, a silver U of hair, and a grandfatherly demeanor. There are about 12 stops between where I get on the train and where I get off at the end of the line.

Once the train doors closed, a foul distinctive odor was clearly present. Several people were looking around and fanning their faces looking for the source of the odor. At the next stop several people got off the train to wait for the next one. I smiled at the old man and he smiled back. I was trying to ignore the odor by taking shallow breaths and focusing on my puzzle book. Two stops later, most people had moved to the other end of the train or gotten off. The train security, a black man in his late 20s, a bleach blonde white woman about my age, and the older man were the only ones left in the "smelly" end of the train.

The black man starts complaining louder and louder about the smell. "I hope you all don't think that's me because it's not!" he proclaimed. The white woman pulled out a wet nap and covered her nose and mouth with it to cover the smell. She gave the black man one as well. I glance at the older man and his face has started to flush. His look was something between pain and embarrassment. I looked down and saw that some fecal matter had run out of the bottom of his pants on to his shoes. I smiled at him again and went back to my puzzle. I felt sorry for him. I know how embarrassed I get when I sneeze with a full bladder, so I could only imagine how he was feeling. I didn't bring any attention to him, but I was secretly hoping his stop was coming up soon, both for him and for us who were dealing with the smell. About that time the black man stood up, pointed at the old man and said "Oh my God, it's him. His pants are full! Dude, that smell is awful." He turns to the train security man and said "Can't you do something about this? This is bad!" At the next stop the security man asked the old man to get off the train. I think the old man thought he was checking for his ticket because he reached in his wallet to pull it out - just then the doors closed and the train pulled away leaving the old man on the platform holding his ticket in his hand.

In my head I kept thinking "All he wanted to do was get home. Some day I am going to be old and may be infirm and I hope I am treated with more kindness than that." The security guy, the black man, and the woman spent the rest of the trip making fun of the man, saying really awful things and talked about how glad they were he was off the train. I kept thinking "I should say something. They don't know anything about this man. What if it was them!" But I didn't. I buried my head in my puzzle and kept to myself.

I can't stop thinking about that man. His kind face, his easy smile, then the look of embarrassment and the confused and sad look when the doors closed on the train. I wish I had had the strength to stand up for him. To tell the people to keep their mouths shut. For all anyone knew his stop was the next one. Every person deserves some dignity - it was just a bad smell - it's not like we don't smell worse all the time from factories and farms. I am so ashamed of myself. The least I could have done is say something in his defense - in my heart I know I should probably have gotten off the train with him and helped him get home. What kind of a person just looks away?