June 23, 2000

10:24 AM

Are you sick of John Rocker yet?I am. How about Rudy Giuliani? I am.

In the latest round of NYC entertainment, Rocker has promised to ride the No. 7 train to Shea Stadium. Lots of people are telling him to not be a dumbass (little bit late for that). Comedy hijinks ensue.

For what it's worth, I rode the No. 7 for years and nobody looks at anybody on that line (or at least gets caught doing so), as is consistent with NY subway etiquette. Rocker will be completely anonymous, unless he decides to go through the car passing out gift pens with little slips of paper that have the sign language alphabet printed on them. Even then, 98% of riders won't make eye contact with him.
posted by elgoose (3 comments total)

Hee hee... I know what you're talking about. I was on the "E" train a few years back, and Christopher Reeve got on. The train was super crowded (no pun intended) so nobody really noticed him except me and two women (one of whom fainted). He saw me stare at him with that "Aren't you...?" look on my face.

He nodded "hi" to me and got off the next stop.

Nobody looks at anybody in the NYC subway system, it just ain't safe.

Though I couldn't help but notice Clark Kent was nowhere to be found during all this.....
posted by EricBrooksDotCom at 11:13 AM on June 23, 2000

After the incident with the reporter (where all he had to do was walk on by without saying anything) I think there's a question of whether Rocker has the sense not to draw attention to himself. I could certainly imagine him getting ticked off because people aren't paying attention to him, and finding some new and interesting way to offend people. "What, I crawl down here in the mud with you lowlifes, and you can't even look at me?"
posted by harmful at 2:34 PM on June 23, 2000

umm, I have to disagree with with your harsh views of the subway, but I look at people all the time. And I am a skinny blonde chick. To clarify, I rarely ride the subway outside of Manhattan and yeah, some trains are tougher than others, but the NYC subway system is pretty safe these days unless you are downright stupid.

People don't make eye contact, but isn't this appropriate group behavior, especially when very close quarters are involved? I always felt elevators to be similar.

(Did anyone know that it is illegal to talk in an elevator in NYC? one of those old laws nobody has bothered to take off the books.)
posted by Laurable at 7:14 PM on June 23, 2000