The Human Trampoline

"You are not the first person who has told me about using racial cues to procure seats on public transportation: A female acquaintance once mentioned that she can usually find a freshly vacated seat on the F train if she stands next to a certain type of person just before a specific stop in Manhattan. Like you, she noted this habit sheepishly. It does feel wrong, somehow, because it’s using race — devoid of all other factors — as a way to predict behavior. But what you’re really doing is gambling on established demographics."

~

Profiles in Commuting - NYTimes.com

Real New Yorkers do this. Hell, I do this.

10 October 2012 ·

• Tags
• the ethicist
• chuck klosterman
• commuting
• nyc
• city life