Drunken Brawls in the Subway During Rush Hour Are a Bad Idea

Here's a cute story: So I get on the packed rush hour C line Subte to head home with my iPod in. The train starts moving and I can see the guy right in front of me is drinking an open can of Budweiser and pushing the man next to him. Anyone who is drinking an open beer on the train in rush hour is probably just asking for trouble, especially since a cop just happened to be on this train. But he doesn't say anything, for the moment.

I can see this is not looking good, and suddenly people packed around the two men are starting to yell at them. Then the punches start flying and with as little space as there was to begin with, a circle is formed around these two knuckleheads. Everyone is yelling and I keep thinking, well the cop will be here any second. But this cop obviously had better things to do. A random person tries to get in between them as the swaying of the train knocks us all around, and finally the cop comes over and with a "that'll do, boys" pep talk, stands in between the fighters.

The one who originally had a beer is bleeding from the mouth and gives the "I'm going to kill you once you get off the train" gesture. For a moment everyone is in shock and doesn't move. The train reaches a stop, no one moves, and we go on. Then a guy next to me starts to call out the police officer, saying he's a terrible role model. A civilian had to break up the fight while he stood watching, and he should be ashamed.

The cop starts to get in his face, but not how I would expect. Well, first of all, if a fight ever broke out in front of a cop on a train in the States, both parties would be taken off immediately and arrested. Then, if someone yelled at or threatened an officer, they too would be arrested. Here, the cop got into the guys' face to quietly whisper, "What do you want me to do, arrest one and not the other?" Good law enforcement, folks. That's what keeps thugery down.

Now the whole train is against this cop, and everyone from this young idealist to elderly women are yelling at him. I can see the fear in his eyes and why he did nothing at first. He's clearly outnumbered, and without backup to help beat everyone up, this guy is toast. His best bet was to just stay out of it from the start. But now he's encircled by an angry mob that wants better policing and two guys who still want to kill each other.

But my stop comes up and there's no way I'm sticking around to see this sinking ship hit the bottom. I wonder who made it out alive from that whole debacle. I'll check the news later tonight.

Transportation Woes in Buenos Aires

Man on man, today was a mess for public transportation. For me anyway. I had the news on this morning like I do every day, keeping an eye out for any word about serious traffic problems. There was nothing eye grabbing, so I went down to the Subte as usual. Once there, however, I discovered that service was "interrupted." It doesn't mean that it's stopped altogether, but you'll definitely get to work late.

It's important to always have a Plan B for transportation here, but I'd already swiped my card and didn't want to waste the $1.10. The train finally moved, but at each stop spend 5 minutes idling. Four stops in at Pueyrredon, everyone got off as word got down that the subway would no longer move. I followed the mass of people slowly trudging upstairs and saw a police officer handing out pieces of paper.

I thought it would be a complimentary ride on the subway, but instead found that it was a permission slip for work. It had to be a joke. This cop, who was more of a hall monitor keeping people moving while they yelled in disgust, was giving an excuse to our bosses for our late arrivals. Were we the children or were they?

Now, I understand that buses and trains break down from time to time. It happens, and I myself have been on a handful of trains in Boston that have broken down. But when they did, the T service always had buses ready to take us to the next stop and make up for it. And that was over the course of my life in Boston. Here, they provided no alternative transportation. In the 7 months I've been living here (and really just 3 months since I frequently use the Subte) the train breaking down is more of a weekly or daily thing, and it's expected that you will generally arrive somewhere late as a result. I've written previously about how you can't help but show up somewhere late at least once a week, but you never know when it will be.

The problem here isn't that there are issues with the Subte. The problem itself is the Subte. It just doesn't function well and I have to say after traveling around the world that it's the worst subway system I've had the privilege to know. Having it there keeps you from bothering with the buses when traffic is at its peak in the morning and after work. It's deceivingly convenient. I'd be willing to pay another 10 cents or whatever it would be if they could just guarantee that you would show up on time and not be totally shocked. Isn't that normal?

So anyway, I got in line for a bus, then had to walk about 15 blocks to finally make it to work, luckily just a half hour late. As for the ride home, it turns out the D line was down all day. I had planned to go to an Anuva wine tasting to do some research for an article for Argentina's Travel Guide, but because of the mess with transportation, I wasn't able to make it. Even lining up for a bus meant getting behind about 100 other people.

So finally upon making it home, I had to pop open a bottle of red and just relax for a bit. Just another day in Latin America.

Above: Photo courtesy of Armando Maynez

Not Quite Elevator Music

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Last night I was riding the Subte (subway) headed towards Belgrano. The subway would be a great way to get around in Buenos Aires, except for the fact that they didn't put much thought into it when they built it. Realistically, it serves only the centro, and the second you get farther out the lines end. To make matters worse, it stops running around 11 pm, and at 10 pm on weekends. In a city that never sleeps. But it only costs $1.10 ARG, so if you can get it to where you're going, it's a good deal.

The ride started off like you would expect--people rush in to find seats, the rest stand. The tracks bend and send passengers lurching into the walls. With not much else to do you look at people, the floor, and your eyes race from right to left as you look at the outside world as the train slows down at each stop. The noise of the tracks only interrupted by the occasional kid trying to sell something.

Suddenly two performers began to play, but it wasn't the standard garbage cans or harmonica, whatever someone might usually play on a subway. Instead, it was classical guitar and a violin. I'm not going to lie and say I am knowledgeable in talent when it comes to the violin. But it sounded damn good to me. Accompanied by the classical guitar, it created a really nice sound and pleasurable ride on the subway, which as anyone who's ever ridden one knows, they aren't the best places to be.

So I wondered why these two performers, who to me it seemed had some talent, be playing on the subway for loose change rather than in a concert hall, a theater, or at the very least a cafe or club. Surely there's some cafe out there that wouldn't mind having the violin played while its guests drank coffee. Could it be that this city is so overflowing with musical talent that even skilled musicians simply have to work on the subway to get by? And the violin isn't exactly an instrument that someone can just pick up on their own as a hobby. It takes years of practice and persistence to be good at it, which costs money. Belgrano is a more expensive neighborhood where rich people live, and I thought it was telling how the subway heading in that direction also came with classical music.

As nice as it was to hear the music on the train, it was a bit sad that it should come to that, playing a beautiful instrument like the violin on the subway. I hope those musicians can find a steadier place to perform and find success in their trip. I got off the subway at my stop and walked into the cold night trying to find my bearings. I was shivering and grinding my teeth, but the tune of the song was still in my head. At least they reached one person.