Perfect Harmony

Like most New Yorkers, I avoid shivving someone during my commutes to and from work by blocking everything out. I don't make eye contact. I bury my head in a book. I listen to my iPod. Non-New Yorkers and hippies probably perceive all this as anti-social and inhumane behavior, but we know better - it's self preservation.

If I make eye contact with people, I am giving them an invitation to enter my "sphere". New Yorkers must protect their "spheres" because they don't have "space".

If I don't bury my nose in a book, there's nothing to look at, and I eventually make eye contact with someone.

If I don't listen to my iPod, anyone can talk to me. By anyone, I mean those assholes who like to get attention from women by "commenting" on their appearance. I will give you only one example such a comment:

"Do you have someone to suck on those toes?"

This -though memorable and distinctive - is mild. I have heard comments that make me cry later, and in general it's just exhausting and not worth the effort of trying to tune out without the aid of headphones. My husband is the one who insists I wear the headphones, I don't even need to be listening to music. They are a barrier that forces these non-classy dudes to realize they wont be heard, so they wont bother since ultimately, they're making the comments because THEY want attention.
So last week I was on a fairly empty train, reading and iPoding. I heard non-iPod music, and thought there was a band in the car. I looked around, and there was no band, no pan handler, no hobo.
Sitting across from me was a man in his mid 60's, wearing a very nice business suit, a briefcase on his lap, playing a harmonica.
It was so poetic. He wasn't playing for attention, he was playing purely for pleasure. While I was reading and tuning, he was blissfully hobbying. I thought of my dad - imagine my dad during his daily commute to work - instead of working on a cross word puzzle, working on a harmonica riff? Imagine this man playing this very song later for his grand child. He wasn't self conscious, and he wasn't pandering.
It is so rare to see something so sincere and so void of ulterior motive in New York. But I suppose these things are always there, if you're not tuning out.