I UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN, BUT DID YOU HAVE TO GO THAT FAR?
Lately, I’m not quite sure why all the most interesting things in my life have happened on the NYC subway, yet time after time I’m faced with a situation that I find all but unbelievable. My guess is it’s because most often I ride my bike to work. Avoiding any kind of human contact, unless of course you consider the thousands of assholes in their cars that approach me and my motorcycle with complete disregard. Nonetheless, it’s my job to worry about them being assholes while I am breathing the fresh air of freedom.
This particular rainy afternoon I boarded the train in order to avoid rain spots on my prized Harley-Davidson. Several stops go by as I begin to silently sing Ratt songs to myself. The doors open. In walks what looks like it’s most likely a woman; who’s presence is instantly noted by everyone on the train. She sits down next to me on an all but abandoned seat which would comfortably hold 2 others had she not been extremely overweight. She made her way onto the bench I was sitting on taking up more room than any normal two people would have consumed. As the rock n roll was blasting away in my headphones I noticed that nearly every person on the train was all but starring at what I assumed was a girl sitting next to me.
I played it cool. At first that is. Eventually my eyes had to glance to my right to see what the big deal was, besides the fact that she was a very BIG deal. She was covered in tattoos. But not the type of tattoos that my bartender, semi-functional addict friends have. They looked almost like prison tattoos. Her swollen left hand read “Only God Can Judge Me” in what looked like a stick-and-poke style that she could have quite possibly been her own doing.
A couple of stops go by and I can’t help but notice the children across are more interested in the large woman than they are their video game machine that I’m sure was acquired after much begging and assurance that this was the most important thing in their lives. That’s the thing about children, you can learn so much from their innocence.
The fat woman had garnered more attention than the video game that they could not live without. What was she doing that was so interesting? I glanced again.
She had a tattoo on her face. A cross just under her left eye. As she counted her money ($27 dollars in total) she separated two single dollar bills for something which had just become the most important thing in everyone in commutes lives.
If this woman was not obese, overweight to the point where she took up two men’s seats on the subway train, would she have gotten a tattoo on her face??
I believe in the good lord as much as anybody. In fact I feel like I have a fairly good relationship with the lord, but I find it hard to believe that if Jesus Christ were alive today that he would ask his followers to tattoo a cross on their faces.
I couldn’t help but think if this woman were skinny, the tattoo would have never happened. The fact that she was hundreds of pounds over weight made her want to give people a reason to look at her other than the fact that she’s enormous. What went through her mind on countless sleepless nights was a way to make people look at her other than her being fat. Her solution was to tattoo her face. What are you more likely to tell your friends about? Seeing a fat woman on the train, or seeing a woman with a tattoo on her fucking face in public?
The tattoo on her face was her way of dealing with being fat.
A new pair of running shoes and a reason to live are a much better decision.
