Riding to work this morning I was ecstatic to get a window seat to myself. It's always good times when you're able to get yourself situated for the ride downtown having arm & leg room along with a bit of personal space. I was excited to read my RedEye and text without bumping elbows with the person next to me or having my thigh stuck to theirs..... that was until the dreaded Kedzie-Homan stop. This stop on the blue line is the primary source of my angst (with Pulaski coming in a close 2nd). The people that appear at these two stops are hard to describe....like the lower crust of society... the forgotten folks. No offense to anyone that uses this stop and ISN'T a ghetto ass teen, smelly bum, or overall sketchtastic person... but from my research I've determined that I don't fucks with Kedzie-Homan or Pulaski.Today, we pulled up to the stop and I was so engrossed in reading and listening to my iPod that I didn't have time to react (i.e. put something on the empty seat next to me) when before I knew it a bum had plopped his smelly ass down next to me. The smell of cheap cologne and sadness crept into my nostrils. It was hard to disguise my shit face. I was like, damn... I have SO many more stops to go and I KNOW he's not getting off until Jackson (for some reason everyone that gets on a Kedzie-Homan/Pulaski end up getting off at Jackson lol). Anyways, the entire ride my focus was thrown off because I was hyper aware of his every move. I felt his eyes peering at me and wanted to just get up and switch seats. I knew that would've came off as being a bit snobbish but you know, I was already thinking the thoughts so was it really that much worse to act on them. Oh yeah, I also pulled the "scared white woman" move and moved my purse to the other side of my body... clutching it and playing out different scenarios in my mind. If he grabbed my purse would I throat chop him? Head butt him? Damn, he'd have my cell phone. Did I have copies of my credit cards at home? lol... (Yes, I was really thinking about this stuff lol)
By the time we passed Clinton I was determined that I could no longer handle the smell. I promised myself that I'd get up at Jackson and just stand up if he hadn't yet gotten off... but guess what? Like clock work Jackson came up and with that the bum got up and headed off into the abyss of the Red Line!!! I was thrilled that he left. I smiled a huge smile, opened my RedEye back up and enjoyed the last few stops before I got to work!!!
So, I'm wondering if I'm a CTA snob? Like, can you be a snob and take public transportation? I feel like to be a real city snob you need to live downtown and cab it. Is it bad that I despise the Chicago CTA bums... they make my skin crawl and sketch me out.
