Commuter Profiling

As a rider of the D train from Brooklyn to Manhattan, I am faced with a daily dilemma: will I find a seat or will my feet fall off by the time I get to work? It's not that I wear uncomfortable shoes, I'm basically a Dansko/Aerosoles (especially now that they have cute styles) wearing freak, yet even for the most comfortable shoes standing for the entirety of my 45 minute commute is something of a challenge.

Being the creative problem solver that I am, I've found that the best way to find a seat is to engage in the much-maligned practice of racial profiling. I don't feel good about it, yet, my feet thank me daily for doing it.

This profiling begins when I transfer to the D at Atlantic/Pacific Street in Brooklyn. As I board the train, I glance purposefully at those seated... and if I'm lucky, I find a unassuming Asian man or women, usually frumpy - not hip, to stand in front of. One subway stop later, if I've guessed correctly, these targeted riders abandon their seats disembarking at Grand Street in Chinatown.

Over the past four months since I began this commute, I've become better at recognizing who gets off at Grand Street than those who disembark! One morning I tagged a small Asian man as a likely Grand Street disembarker and was surprised when he failed to get off there. However, one stop later at Broadway/Lafayette he looked up, confused, and got off the train. Perhaps I should just start nudging the riders I think should get off... they'll probably thank me, or just give me the evil subway eye*.

*The "evil subway eye" refers to that look given by one subway rider to another that says, "die mother***er." The ESE is commonly given for stealing a seat in which another rider intended to sit, for talking loudly, for playing an iPod loudly, or for just being a tourist.