NYC Subway

I detest the NY subway. When I come out from under it I want take the hottest shower in the world and dip myself in bleach, twice. I hardly take it unless I have to. Far too many energies that I can deal with. I was on it today for over an hour each way. Of course the subway will not be complete without a panhandler. This woman comes in the subway car and her schpiel went like this

"Hello ladies and gentleman. I am homeless, hungry and pregnant. And I have a four year old daughter and your donations make it possible for us to afford shelter every night. Any thing you can give us, food, juice water or cash would be greatly appreciated.

Of course people ponied up the dough to her sad story. I heard it before from the same lady a few months ago and her belly is still flat. And like the last time I saw her her daughter wasn't with her. Then she said the same thing in Spanish. That's the only thing that changed about her gammut.

Not five minutes later the self-proclaimed "DVD Man" has his schpiel. I locked eyes with this lady sitting across from me with the "Seriously?" look. If the Bootleggers Association for the Distribution of Movies were a legitimate company he could have been the CEO. He pointed out to us that he has the latest releases, including Will Smith's "Seven Pounds" which will open this weekend and other blockbuster titles. He certified the validity of the DVD.s since no camcorders were used, strictly downloads from the computer and there were no pesky head bobbing and shaky hand syndrome that plague the other bootleg DVD's on the market. Then the coup de gras was he did it all again in Espanol. The same lady and I just busted out laughing.

Apparently, hustling has now gone multilingual. You'd think with their linguistic prowess they'd be motivated to find a job. Or maybe they just know only how to say their schpeils in Spanish. Kudos to their marketing technique! In any event, they will appeal to a broader audience with Spanish, since NY is the cultural epicenter.