By Amanda Weiss
Who was that girl on the train? I was that girl on the train.
We were sopping wet and ran to get to the train station. With only minutes until the train was leaving, we felt lucky to get on it, walking through at least four cars until we finally found a four-seater area. There was a six-seater across from us where a man in a suit and a group of four tourists from London were sitting. Immediately, it became clear they were fighting – with the local New York man taunting them saying, “I don’t want you touching me; you sat down and banged into me and you could apologize….I know in your country you don’t even touch ….You’re vacationers and tourists…”
The Londoners were shocked and fought back. There was a growing crowd as they continued. Soon the conductor came and told everyone, “Enough! It’s done,” and he left. Still, the fight continued. At this point, I got up from my four-seater area and went to sit down in the remaining empty seat in the six-seater. “I need a place to sit,” I said. Once I was seated, the New York man proceeded to straddle my seat, putting his legs out on either side of me. I said, “Get your feet off my seat; I don’t want you touching me.” This went back and forth until he said, “You’ll have to call a policeman.” Imagine my surprise when one of the spectators then said, “Oh, you mean me?” He flashed his badge.
I continued to speak clearly and calmly, firmly saying, “You are being rude. Your feet are not supposed to be on the seats.” At this point, another man from the crowd looked right at the New York man and said, “No one is on your side.” It became very quiet. The New York man took his feet down.
I stayed for a while, chatting with the Londoners, telling them of the wonderful trip I had recently taken to London. As I left to go back to my seat, there was applause in the car. People were shaking my hand. A woman from New Zealand sitting across the way said “I love your work.” When I returned to my seat, my friend said, “You’ve made peace between two countries.”
Do you know that the New York man did not say another word the rest of the ride? He was making all New Yorkers look bad, and I single-handedly changed that. Everyone was thinking of doing something to stop it, but I actually did it. I guess in my Greeley yearbook they didn’t vote me “Senior Not To Mess With” for nothing. Oh–and I guess having the guy with the badge there didn’t hurt.
Amanda Weiss’ story as recorded by her mother Nancy, April 13, 2012.
