I was standing in line at the now defunct Subway at Kew Gardens. I was in my own little world when I heard some shouting and cursing. I noticed it but didn’t really pay it any mind. I just kept to myself.
At one point one of the people involved said excuse me and zipped past me. I nodded at him and he nodded back. “Forget these guys, I’m gone.” That’s when I snapped back to reality and realized there had been a pretty heated argument right in front of me, and I was so distracted that I barely registered it.
It made me feel a bit sad and also concerned. Sad because it seems we’ve grown so used to seeing conflict and tension that we often tune it out. I was standing there and basically shut it out. From what I gathered, the issue was that a worker touched pork and was then going to make a sandwich for a Muslim customer without changing gloves.
It worries me because tuning out situations like this can make you less aware of your surroundings, which is important for staying safe. I don’t want to get so comfortable that I don’t notice things happening around me. Considering everything, I probably tuned it out because neither of the parties seemed like a direct threat to me.
But still, it’s kind of wild that I basically daydreamed through a fight happening right there in the street.
Leave a Reply