Cultural Oddity Moment #9

Keep away from those with weak constitutions, and no I don't mean Iraqis. This is a little bit strange to say the least. I have been riding the subway now for a month and finally encountered a totally drunk man covered in his own vomit. What do you mean did I photograph it? Or course I photographed it! It's taken me a month to get to this moment! I thought twice about taking the picture, because there were lots of people on the subway and I felt kind of sick for doing it, but it was so worth it.


Now the oddity is that the man was already like this when I got onto the subway. Everyone else on the car was doing their thing, minding their business. As though there wasn't a guy covered in vomit at the end of the car. And I mean covered. This photo is blurry because I couldn't bear to post one that was clear, but you can still make out the damp blotch all over his knee and thigh. What you can't see is the flecks and chunks and slime running from his elbow to his fingernails, pieces of whatever already smelly Korean food he had eaten earlier that evening. Pieces that his half conscious body would sling off every now and again. He never moved from this position the entire time I was on the train. That's an hour. People got on and off, but the man never moved. Here comes the weirdness, I promise. When people got on the subway, no one said anything to the man, few people looked twice, no one shook him, no one moved to another car. There were people in the seat right next to him! Their feet were almost in the puddle! This is a subway! It smelt bad all the way at the other end of the car! How could they sit next to him!?! Well, I don't know about you guys but I want some freaking answers. Hey Koreans who read this: Is this really a cultural normality, or do you also find it weird that nobody shook him, nobody thought twice about the image? Why did everyone just pretend it wasn't happening? In New York that guy would have been thrown off the subway and the car would be empty. Even on Marta. Hook me up with some explanations.

This has been your cultural oddity moment of the day.