Zen Master

From the moment he got on the train I sensed trouble. I just picked up on his vibe. He was listening to music on his ipod—Rock from what I could here—and he sat across from me and Rey. I took one look at him and closed my eyes, thinking this is the type where if you make eye contact he starts gay bashing.

Ipod guy’s music is jamming, and he reeks of alcohol. At some point he starts picking a fight with this guy next to him who’s twice his size. I mean this was out of nowhere; there was no buildup, Ipod guy just started going off on Jumbo Guy, who was so Zen about the whole thing. I mean, the man was angry, but you could see him putting the anger aside in order to avoid a physical conflict. Ipod guy would have none of it. He was sloshing around nasty insults to the guy, threatening him and insulting him. A little old man sitting on the same side of the subway as them creaked up and scuttled away, looking to avoid casualty-status should a fight erupt.

Rey and I were stunned. It was scary. That big guy could’ve pounded the drunk Ipod man easily, but he kept a very stern sense of ethics, he made no threats, he simply requested for respect.