subway singer

A short round white man was singing in the subway car this morning. He didn’t do it for money, at least he never seemed to ask for any and he wasn’t a great singer either. He sang “This land is my land” and the US national anthem among others. He did all this with a mild to strong “Spanish” accent. I was semi forced to abandon my music, stopping my cd player from spinning my cd but I kept the earphones on, to insulate me from the pressure of giving him money if he asked for it. By the time I was ready to get off I was ready to go up to him and volunteer money. I didn’t. As far as I know he sang himself to his stop, deep in Brooklyn. As I was getting off the Asian woman sitting directly across from him gave me a desperate look. I didn’t reciprocate the despair even though I empathized. I guess the worst part was that it was sad and enjoyable at the same time to hear this man sing. I walked away confused and I remain just that.

PS. After finishing writing this, it came to my attention that for better or most likely for worse, this is my 100th post. Whatever that means.