"GIRL"....? Really?

My latest appalling T-incident began when a fellow passenger called me "girl". Seriously, that was his introduction, "Hi, girl!" and he really didn't seem to register the inappropriateness of referring to an almost 30-year old black woman as GIRL! He even went so far as to continue the conversation, while I sat, waiting on the platform, head cocked to the side, with a confused expression on my face, like "GIRL??? WhereTheyDoThatAt?? I addressed the fact, but I'm afraid I didn't go far enough...

"Did you just call me 'girl'?" I asked
"Yes... oh, I should've said 'sister'...?"
Is he serious? "Mmmm, no. I just haven't been addressed as 'Girl' in a couple of decades." Ummm, more like EVER. Even when I was referred to as "a girl" no one was picking me out of a crowd and using "Girl" in place of my name, or a second person pronoun. Completely oblivious to my inner thoughts, dude continued chit-chatting about the weather and his journey home, not noticing I had utterly tuned him out and was reaching for my headphones.

The problem(s) with this situation:
1) He's a 50-something older white guy referring to a black woman as "girl". As if the term weren't racially charged enough, "Girl" is not even a proper form of address, it should be "Miss/Ma'am" or something along those lines.
2) If this type of behavior was never racially correct in the past, it is most definitely outdated in 2014. 3) As I grappled with whether or not I should try to put his ignorance into context (like maybe this guy is older than I think and out of touch, or maybe he's from the south...?), I realized I was less intent on correcting him and more intent on addressing the fact that his word usage was odd.
4) I apologize in advance to the next black woman, or any grown woman for that matter, that he refers to in the same way. Singling me out as "Hey, woman" would have been equally weird, but less offensive, derogatory, and belittling. I should've corrected him when I had the chance. The next woman might just give him an angry face, and based on his reaction to me, it's clear he just won't get it.

You remind me of... sweet things

A little beatnic poetry slam on the redline platform this morning?? #Classic

"You remind me of sweet things...(guitar interlude and drum beats)...
You remind me of....
iiiice cream...
(drum beats again, pause)
Vanilla"

I couldn't keep a straighter face if I were serious. Mind you, I'm hearing all this before I ever see the artiste/ beat poet, and when I do see him, it's nothing short of startling. Something along the lines of a wild-haired, pale faced witch-leprechaun... Outfitted with a loose green turtleneck, gray skinnies covered in paint (which the four canvases of art surrounding him help put into context) sitting on a crate, with a guitar by his side. I assume he made the drum sounds by beating on the crate at intervals. Best wake up call this week. For some reason everything smells like vanilla now. Thanks beatnic.

Red Line Karaoke??

I cannot!!!! The train pulled to a stop, but we're too far up, so they have to back up the entire train. If only people waiting on the platform could stand behind the yellow line, we could actually back up... While we wait, we get a free round of Karaoke a la señor off-key vocals. It started with Mario's all time #1 remix of "you say I'm just a friend...girl I can beee your faaantasssy..." and ended with some lyrics I could've even decipher. Sir, get your pitch right! I cain't!

Señor Jock

Riding the train at night makes me super aware of just how many men are on board. The ratio is something like 5:1, which makes me slightly uncomfortable, and definitely more observant...(except for these little blogging interludes).

Tonight, Señor Jockstrap has boarded the train, laid down his leather coat and is quickly (very quickly) making himself at home. He pulls a bottle of lotion out of his stuffed gym bag, squirts and rubs it into his hands, and then sits back, arms up over both opposing headrests as if waiting for the intoxicating powers of an Axe body lotion to take effect. He's fidgety too. Minutes later, he's sitting cross-legged, stretched across two seats, with his bag and coat stretched across another two. Uh oh, he's getting dressed again. We must be getting close. Lol #ICan't!!

Purple Rain

First of all!!! Who knew Etta James did a cover of Prince's "Purple Rain"??

Secondly, why is there a dude at the station pretending he's auditioning for a live concert AS Prince??? I never know what's going on. How'd I miss the casting call??

Bright Lights

I'm a Gary Clark, Jr. fan, but this story is not about my fave homeless-looking, guitar-playing artist man. It's all about the academic highlighting champion I sat next to yesterday on,the ride in to work. Sir! You have literally highlighted every word on the page, color coding by paragraphs! Was it alllll really that important? I don't know how he's gonna remember what to study for the actual test, but I hope his memory is color coded too.

Breathe in, breathe out

Hey girl, heeey! Yeah....so this is gonna be pretty awkward and terrible, but honey, you need to wash your hair. It smells preTTy bad. Could be for any number of reasons, but you seem pretty well put together, so I'm gonna say it's just that them braids been in too long. Look, just take care of it... and maybe lean in the ooother direction...? Yeah, it'sss bad.