32 LIFE IS FRAGILE–RAGE STALKING THE TRAIN CAR

Warning-endless use of profanities, this was written from first hand experience, uncut and unedited.

Life is fragile, things can change faster than you can catch your breath. Yesterday that fact was so apparent as the fragility of the evening shifted in the blink of an eye with a foreboding promise of shattering.

I was traveling home on the train with one of my colleagues when a young Caucasian looking man mid 20s early 30s boarded the train. He was dressed in urban wear with a ball cap. Soon after the train doors closed we heard loud music. The music ricocheted through the train car. The source of the loud music, the young man that recently boarded the train.

We were sitting a door and two seats down from him. People began looking around for the source of the loud music. Though unsettled by the looks on some of their faces, no one said anything. The music got a bit louder and as the train pulled into the next stop and a new set of passengers’ boarded things shifted quickly. One of the men who had boarded the train car asked the young man if he can kindly lower the music and all hell broke loose.

The atmosphere turned hostile taking on a combination of fear, irritation and apprehension as the young man who was asked to turn down his music began angrily hailing profanities at the man that dared to ask him to turn down his music. His rage was palatable as he spewed his outrage, “who the fuck do you think you are, telling me to turn down my music!

“Mind your fucking business!

“Who are you the fucking police?”

“Are you TTC fucking security, don’t come in here and tell me to turn down my music.”

“I paid to get in this fucking train!” “

“Fuck off! Fuck you!”

“Trying to tell me what to do.”

The gentleman who asked for the music to be turned down didn’t get an opportunity to respond as the raging man continued above a raw. “This is not your fucking home!”

“I am not in your fucking house!”

“I can do what I want, you can’t tell me what to do, you piece of fucking shit.”

The raging young man continued his rage of profanities flaring angrily for almost 5 minus until another young in his early 20s of mixed heritage (Caucasian and African Canadian) asked him to please stop the endless swearing. Oh heavenly father you would think he got up and slapped the raging young man by his reaction, this just lit the already blazing flame of his temper. I thought he would explode because he blew into more of a volatile rage as he turned his wrath on the serene young man. “Fuck you, you don’t tell not to swear.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are, I can fucking swear as much as I fucking want, you can’t fucking tell me what to do, you are fucking nothing, look at you, you want a fucking piece of me!”

“You fucking piece of shit, fucking shit, you want to take me on!” and he jumps up charging forward.

While the man raged and the young man responded gently the Asian woman sitting next to him, a seat between them gentle touched him as if to say, “Please don’t engage him.” Getting the message the young man smiled at her gently and remained quiet. His quietness seemed only to fuel the raging man as he sat back down but continued to cuss at the young man. Just as I thought things were dying down the still fuming got re-ignited as when he looked at the young man and started shouting, “I see your face is angry, you want to fight me, you want some of this, come I will fuck you up!” and he jumped from his seat, at this point I am thinking, ‘oh hell, I prayed, Lord please do something, this shit is getting out of control. I was very concerned because I did not know if he was armed or just verbally defecating. I kept thinking, ‘we all isolated in this closed train car and things has to be contained before the shit hit the fan.’

In an attempt to defuse things, I said, “come on please, don’t do this,” he looked at me and ignored me and moved into the space going toward the young man. The Asian woman she too trying to defuse the escalating situation she interjects without raising her voice above a whisper, she puts her hands out in front of her stopping the ragging young man from coming forward further toward the other man and she gently placed her other hand on the quiet young man sitting and said quietly, “please no.” The raging man sat down but was soon up again, he turned to the first man that ask him to turn down the music and cussed him some more, then to the young gentle man and cussing him violently then exited the train car at Main Station. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. I thanked the heavenly Divine for the divine intervention and relaxed the rest of the way home.