New York Minute 128 - Double Bogey

It is an uncomfortable feeling when a panhandler walks onto your subway car and launches into a pathetic but disingenuous pitch for money. You’re trapped in an enclosed space with a nuissance, a person who is determined to elicit an uncomfortable emotional response, if that’s what it takes to get you to hand over some cold, hard cash. You suspect that they are up to no good, that the money that will be used to feed their addictions, satisfy their greed, or fund coordinated criminal activity. 

But you’re stuck. The only way to escape this attempt at emotional blackmail is to pass to the next subway car, which, while the train is moving, is both dangerous and illegal. Then again, panhandling is illegal, and the authorities do little to discourage it.

Imagine a situation where two panhandlers enter your subway car at the same time, one from each end. Imagine them presenting their well-rehearsed pitches simultaneously. I had the opportunity to experience such an event earlier this week. It was as dreadful as it sounds.

Copyright © 2019 Daniel R. South 

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