Train sighting

[Zellie Crescent]

This is just a small one from yesterday night. Me, my sister (Jamie), and my niece (Lauren) were on the train to go home from NY, and while we were waiting this guy stands in the doorway and starts shouting "Can anyone help me out here? I need to get home to Egg harbor township, but NJ transit isn't going to help me. I need some money to get home now, I know it's not your problem, but I just need to get out of here." He repeats this a couple more times, halfway through the first time Jamie moved Lauren so she was sitting next to me on my left. Then she puts her right foot on the seat between me and Lauren and leaned forward a little bit. The guy looks around after he gets done talking and then leaves. We had to wait a couple of minutes til he left the train so we could get going. The funny thing is I told Jamie on the way there "I'm on a train with you, I'm gonna end up writing something in the sightings section.

[Pixilated]

Jeez. Did he sound drunk? Otherwise I just can't imagine standing in a carful of people yelling for somebody to give me money -- even if I did ask nicely and say "Please."

[MoonCat]

Panhandler. We get those all the time around here. "Can you help me please, I'm 17 cents short on the bus fare..." Or my favorite, "I came into the city to meet my friend/sister/brother/uncle/GF/BF/some random stranger I met online and he/she/they stood me up and I have no way to get home, can you spare a quarter/50c/dollar/etc. etc. pleeeaaase?"

They get nothin', so then they wander off. I've seen them blocks away (no where near a bus stop or train platform) 10 minutes after begging for money for "bus fare."

[Mr Hero]

I once had someone ask me for bus fare. I offered him one of my city bus passes and he declined.

[Dreamstalker]

I see them all the time on the subway (makes me think of that old song "Charlie on the MTA"...you had to pay to get on the platform/train in the first place!). I just ignore em. In the summer I'll see kids walking the train with 'fundraising' boxes of candy; the giveaway there is that there's no adult and they aren't wearing any type of school/team shirts (I sometimes wonder if they lifted the boxes from a store).

I confess to asking for bus fare once years ago when I was a fair bit younger, but it was a short hop (just over the river) and I literally had no money on me. This was back when a bus fare was 40 cents.

[ShootMePlease]

Was it the Northeast Corridor ? I use that all the time to go to NYC. There are some characters on there, for sure.

[Zellie Crescent]

He didn't sound drunk to us, we were just looking at each other until he left. I learned in Atlantic city that the best thing to do when people are asking/begging other people for money is to just ignore them and pretend they don't exist.

[Seshat]

I have a dream I regularly get where I'm stuck somewhere with no bus/train fare home.

[dalesys]

I have a dream I regularly get where I'm stuck somewhere with no bus/train fare home.

"Right. I mean
How many times have you been accosted on the street
By a panhandler person with a very bittersweet
Sob story about how they need a dollar for the train
They’re standing looking pitiful and soggy in the rain

And now they say that they’re stranded—their car broke down
They came to meet their sister, but their sister’s out of town
And if you pull out a buck or two, they get all shifty
And they suddenly remember that the train costs eight fifty

And you know you’ve got the money but you’re starting to believe
They’re just another liar out on New Year’s Eve
You don’t trust Santa Claus on Christmas, you’re right to be suspicious
The city can be nasty and the people can be vicious

And you know who’s the one I really pity the most?
The guy from out of town whose car has given up the ghost
He’s really out of money, he’s really unprepared
He’s really getting nervous and he’s really getting scared

And no one's gonna help him ‘cause we’ve heard it all before
We don’t have the time to stay and listen anymore
And the truth is I’ve got money
At least a little bit of money

But brother, I can’t spare the time
Sister, I can’t spare the time
Brother, I can’t spare the time
Sister, I can’t spare the time

Doesn’t anybody need some light tonight?"

Groovelily - Matches For Sale/Say What? @ 4:45