Beggars on the DC Metro
by Judd WileyMay 1st, 2008, 8:52 am
The DC Metro, for all its faults, has a largely clean and non-threatening ridership of professionals, service members, college students, and tourists. Rarely have I ever felt disgusted or intimidated by other riders. This is in stark contrast to the New York subway, which has been overrun by beggars, thieves, drug addicts, and crazy people for decades.
Not any more.
This morning, during a two-stop Blue Line ride between Pentagon and Crystal City, I was rudely accosted by the most infuriating type of beggar imaginable, the type you see all over New York. Young. Lean. Angry. Dreadlocked like Zach de la Rocha. Wearing an oversized hooded sweatshirt. Listening to an I-Pod.
He burst loudly into my Metro car through the end door while the train was moving through the tunnel, which meant he had had to literally jump from the adjoining car. He hustled up to me, and stuck his hand angrily in my face. Didn’t even ask for my money. Just stuck out an angry hand.
Mind you, this was a young, fit, able-bodied man, several years older than many of our privates and lance corporals serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was not the poor little old homeless lady that you sometimes see sitting alone in the rain and who makes you feel sad and guilty.
All this flashed through my head as this bastard was standing in front of me and I became silently enraged. I looked him squarely in the eye and replied, “Absolutely not.”
He moved on, hustling from rider to rider, sticking his hand angrily in their faces. Most of the riders had obviously never seen an angry beggar on the Metro before, and just stared at him dumbfounded. At the next station, he jumped off and ran to another car, where he began accosting more people.
As I left the station, I began thinking about the implications of all of this.
Why has the Metro enjoyed a clean and non-threatening ridership over the years, when there is so much crime and despair in the eastern parts of the city?
Is this angry beggar an omen of bad tidings?
Is DC slowly becoming like New York, where one’s daily commute becomes an unpleasant sociological romp through the menacing bowels of humanity?
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I think the DC metro’ strict rules (no food on the metro, no chewing gum, no audible music, no buskers) and cleanliness contribute to the general order of the environment. It’s like the “broken windows” theory. Chaos invites more chaos. Some folks complain about not being able to eat on the metro, but I think that’s a good thing, and one reason episodes like the one you just described are rare.
Dude, when is the last time you took the NYC subway? Sounds like you haven’t ridden it since the 70s. The hyperbole is a bit much. I guess if you’re a frightened tourist it seems that way, but to those of us who live here, it’s a periodic annoyance rather than an “overrun.” Most commutes don’t yield anything of the kind. Our beggars don’t wear iPods, either, although I do get annoyed when I see one wearing more expensive sneakers than I could ever afford….
Lisa, Thanks for your comment.
I went to college in New Jersey in the late 90s and visited NYC every other weekend for 4 yrs. My brother lives there now, and I visit him several times a year, most recently 2 months ago. My grandparents live in Queens. So my NYC experience is large enough that I feel qualified to comment intelligently on this subject. However, you are right - I am not a New Yorker.
From my anecdotal experience, the young, angry beggar of able body and mind is a staple of the NY subway, especially in the not-so-nice areas. It’s a particular kind of counterculture that I only see in New York.
Again, this is anecdotal experience, of which I obviously have less than you, but it’s still my experience.
A larger question is why does the NY subway have so many homeless people, drug addicts, mentally ill, etc.? We have almost none of this in DC, even though we have a massive crime-ridden, poverty-stricken ghetto in southeastern DC, filled with all sorts of desperate people. Could it be that NY subway is open 24 hrs?
For the life of me, I don’t understand it. What do you think the reason is?
(Also - You are right about the iPod - which I’ve only seen a few times. But all the rest is true.)
Judd