Things below the surface Part II: The Subway

Sara and I live in a neighborhood called Roma Norte. It’s half old-school neighborhood with a lovely slow pace and tree-lined streets. The other half is a festering pile of cool, swarming with hipsters. Both halves are filled with the most amazing architecture. I like to think of it as a cross between Brooklyn and Paris, if a little rougher around the edges. There are three predominant forms of architecture. The first is heavily French influenced, hence the Parisian feel. The second is Spanish colonial, which is nice but I don’t know much about yet. The third is crap that they threw up after the big earthquake of 1985. Thankfully, the old buildings were built really well and are mostly still standing. They distract from the preponderance of horrible structures that architects have farted out since and create these mostly fabulous neighborhoods with beautiful facades and wide gracious boulevards criss-crossed with quiet, charming side-streets lined with trees.

The subway in Mexico is yet another thing that reminds me of Paris. That, too, makes sense since they largely copied the French metro. The cars run on rubber tires so the platforms aren’t noisy the way they are in New York City. They are narrower and taller, and they come far more frequently than they do in any other city I have visited. The tunnels and platforms are spotlessly clean, which is yet another major difference from NYC. Is it really so hard to make that happen? Does the NYC subway have to be one compromise after another? I just read that on top of being dirty, noisy, and crowded, they might raise rates in NY again soon. The subway in Mexico costs 5 pesos a ride (approximately 35 cents). It is truly an egalitarian system that gets the people to and from work every day in an affordable way. There is just no way the NY subway is affordable for someone earning minimum wage. There is also no way that 5 pesos pays all the overhead for a subway system the size of Mexico’s. The price is undoubtedly kept low enough for the people to get around without breaking the bank. This is as it should be. People who think the NY system is appropriately priced are certainly not in the low income tax bracket.

The subway cars in México seem to be moving in fast forward. They zoom into the stations, brake, throw open the doors, and before you know it, they snap them closed and zoom away. This affects everyone who, of course, feel the need to push their way on before people have finished disembarking. I don’t think you could argue that Mexicans are rude, they are justifiably afraid that they will miss their train.

The other day I made the mistake of riding the subway at rush hour. I had no idea what I was getting into. It started off mildly enough. I got on at my quiet station easily enough. It wasn’t until we hit the busy downtown stations that I realized the mistake I had made. I haven’t been that pressed even in the most crowded Times Square 4-train. There was no need to hang on. I was more than held up by the flexing butt muscle of the dude behind me. We rode, butt cheek to flexing butt cheek, and I couldn’t move or turn around to give him a wink or get his number. When my stop came, nobody moved. I had figured that others would get out and I would be able to wriggle free, but no such luck. That was the moment when I realized I didn’t know how to say, “getting off". So I said, “disculpe”, but still no one moved. Trapped far from the door, realizing I was about to miss my stop, I blurted out something like, “OFF!!” and pushed through the crowd, which was like being birthed. Sara had explained to me that it was fine to force your way off a train; that that was often the only way to do it, but I still felt that people should have moved a little, tried to help a little. It felt a bit...rude. One guy even said something that sounded like encouragement to me as I squeezed through. Bizarre, and uncomfortable and completely unnecessary. The last straw was the guy standing directly in front of the doorway, blocking my path. I gestured for him to move and he completely ignored me. Apologies to all, but I couldn’t resist shoulder checking him little as I exited. He fell half out of the train and I felt slightly less annoyed for a few seconds.  You can take the boy out of NY…

That was only the first of two times that day I wanted to smack a dude. After I transferred and was securely wedged into the next train, I saw something else I had never seen before. There was a guy wedged next to me and a woman wedged next to him. As she disembarked, the guy casually put his hand on the woman’s ass and gave it a squeeze. I had to blink because it looked so natural, I wasn’t sure if perhaps they knew each other. I didn’t think anyone would do this in so brazen and obvious a manner. The woman, for her part, just looked straight ahead and made a bee-line out the door and through the crowd. When the guy didn’t get off, I knew he had just casually molested her. I made this realization as I was pushing past the man to get off the train myself. By the time it had registered enough for me to get past confusion and shock and arrive at indignation and possible reaction, the doors were closing and I was left to ponder what might have been.

In New York, had I witnessed the same thing, I would have publically shamed the man. Held the doors, called everyone’s attention to his crime and generally made him regret not evolving. Here, I felt powerless. Maybe not as powerless as the woman, but certainly out of my element. Obstacles to action: First, my language skills need to improve to the point that I can do something more than publically embarrass myself. Second, there is really very little time between stops, so your priority has to be getting on and off and not the pleasant diversion of making assholes wish they had made different life choices. Third, realizing the situation more effectively. I have to admit that I didn’t comprehend the event immediately. I’m not used to people sinning so boldly and my mind created possibilities for why instead of spurring me to action (ex. Perhaps they were in a relationship and he was being playful).

Sara was not surprised. She really believes that deeply ingrained societal norms can be overcome through education, spreading of positive messages, political action, etc.  With a resigned sigh, she explained that this kind of thing, to her great regret, still happens all the time. That, she explained, is why there is an entire section of each train and bus reserved only for women and children. This last bit really floored me. While it’s certainly an effective way of providing safe space for them, it has been hard for me to process separating half the population from the other half because it’s just that hostile for them to share the same space. Sara pointed out that they do the same thing in Japan. She worked there for years and the anonymity of packed train cars provides outwardly civilized people with ample opportunity for groping. What the fuck is going on!!?? It’s not that I’m surprised by shitty male behavior, it’s just that productive solutions escape me. Public shaming, really aggressive women who just don’t stand for that shit, men who stand up against it as well. These are the New York way. I guess I’m making it sound like no one gets harassed or touched in NYC. Obviously, this happens a lot...but we don’t have to separate the males from the women and children yet, do we?

My solution, until they expand the public transportation system to the point that we are no longer riding in rush-hour cattle cars, is to avoid the subway at all costs during peak hours. The other part of my avoidance strategy is to ride my bike everywhere. It’s a better way to get around and to see the city. After all, I’m here to live, witness and learn, not change Mexico, and I’d rather not be angry and uncomfortable when I don’t have to be.