Leap of Faith Friday: Homies on a Train
Friday, February 1, 2008 
Ok, it’s too late to turn back now. Welcome to my first Leap of Faith Friday post. Who’s crazy idea is this? My good friend Christine from Chicken Fried Therapy. Read about it. I know her blog rocks, but please don’t forget to come back to read this post!
This first Leap of Faith entry is merely a story about a leap of faith I took. Actual leaps will take place in subsequent weeks. I promise. Gotta warm up first.
I’m an LA Metro rider -- the few, the proud, the miserable. Los Angeles’ Metro system is nothing like that of cities like Boston, my hometown. The “T” in Boston is something that everyone rides – parents bringing their kids to the Children’s Museum, college students going to class, executives commuting to work, couples traveling downtown to enjoy a night out. LA’s Metro system is a completely different animal. The majority of the lines traverse the worst parts of town. You don’t take the Metro because you want to “go green” - you take the Metro because you want to go. Period. It also serves as convenient housing for the homeless, as the Metro runs on an honor system – no gates, no ticket booths. I know, I thought the same thing: how often do you see the words LA and honor in the same sentence?? Last year, I decided to brave the Metro to commute to work. My truck gets six miles a gallon. Saving $40 a day in gas was well worth touring South Central on a daily basis.
Riding the Metro is actually not as bad as most people make it out to be. If you don’t make eye contact, and can habituate yourself to the smell of homeless people confined within a sealed steel container, you’ll do ok. And while commuting on the LA Metro is in itself a leap of faith, this is not the leap of faith I’d like to share today. This leap of faith story took place on one such Metro ride a couple weeks ago.
I had just settled into my seat after my second transfer of the morning commute. The train was still underground, but as customary, I had my laptop and wireless PC card set up and ready to catch a signal once we hit street level. Laptop, iPod, window seat, solitude. My own slice of heaven.
As the door shut, I noticed 3 guys jump on board at the last second. Nothing unusual, it happens all the time. But I also noticed that they were going from passenger to passenger rather than taking a seat. Down the aisle they went. And thuggy they did look. Kinda like this guy if he were real:
Because I had my iPod on, all I had to go on were visual cues. And from the looks on my fellow passengers’ faces, I could rule out that these gentlemen were offering complimentary dinner mints. They eventually made it to me. They didn’t try to talk to me. They simply took the 3 seats immediately to the front and left me. A more paranoid man would have used the term surround. They also seemed to be glancing in my general direction. All at the same time.
“Ok,” I thought , “this I’m-so-absorbed-in-my-music-I-don’t-notice-you charade isn’t working.”
I looked up. He signaled me to remove the earbuds.
“Yo, Homes…”
Alright! He called me homes! He saw the gangsta in me despite my Toshiba Satellite series laptop and the fact that I was reppin Banana Republic beige.
Armed with newfound confidence, I gave him a nonchalant “whassup” nod.
He continued, “I just got outta jail and I need to call my homies. You got a phone on you?”
Now this is the point at which smart people (i.e. the rest of the train) would have just said no and hoped for the best. But no, I’d rather get stomped by a roving gang of ex-cons than be labeled a wuss. It’s the alpha male wanna-be in me. And how obvious a wuss move would saying no be? I had a laptop, Video iPod and a wireless PC card in plain sight. I couldn’t pull off the clueless no cell-phone-having immigrant train riding guy. At least not with a clear man-conscience.
But I had an out. We were underground. No signal.
Trying to keep from looking intimidated, I replied “Oh, yeah… no problem at all. Here you go. OOPS, look at that. No signal! Aw, that sucks.”
“That’s cool. We’ll just wait.”
Dammit.
“Um… Ok. I’ll let you know when I get a signal.”
I began assessing the situation. Ok, if they really wanted to steal my phone, why would they put me on the defensive by mentioning jail? Wouldn’t he just say he wanted to call his grandma? And if they did happen to run off with my phone, it’s insured anyway. A $50 deductible is worth my intact man-pride, isn’t it? Aw man, but all my contact phone numbers are on it! What a hassle! Should I run after them if they grab it? Are they armed?
As I was playing Choose Your Own Adventure in my head, homie #1 busted out a 7-Eleven brownie, opened it and took a bite (there are signs clearly indicating no eating allowed on the train – have they no regard for the law?). He passed it to phone-less homie, who broke off a chunk.
“You got signal yet?” he asked.
Resigned to the fact that I could lose my phone, I just played it cool so I could at least savor this non-wuss moment.
“Yup. I’ve got signal. Here you go.”
What I saw next gave me newfound faith in my fellow man and the Los Angeles County penal system. Phone-less homie took my phone and held it like so:
Re-enacted by me in the safety of my own home.
WHAT A NICE GUY! My own kid doesn’t even do that! Phoneless homie cradled my phone so as to keep from getting sticky brownie residue on it. I was truly touched. My phone was safe. He didn’t even want to get it sticky, much less run off with it. Homie proceeded to call his other homies and arrange to “smoke summa dat crraaazy sh*t” once he made it home in a few minutes (isn’t it so true -- home is where the bomb ass weed is at). I was happy I was able to facilitate that reunion.
I got my phone back, clean as when I entrusted it to him.
“Yo, I really appreciate you letting me use your phone, homes,” he said with a smile. “Even other Mexicans were ignoring me and sh*t, what’s up with that?”
“Man, that’s straight f*ed up!” I replied, newfound camaraderie proudly beaming. I shut my computer to conversate.
And we conversated. About traffic and weather. Yeah, in case you didn’t know, those are topics of small talk even amongst the most hardcore of us gangstas.
A few stops later, it was time to part.
“Yo, thanks again, man.”
“Hey, welcome home, kid. And listen: you boys stay out of trouble, now.”
I may be gangsta, but I’m still a dad.
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Reader Comments (48)
That's a really sweet story. I love it when people surprise you like that.
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[BusyDad] Believe me... no one loved that ending more than me! haha
That was a great post BuzzD - I like that Banana reference.
You know, I would have freaked too; but good for you. That was a real leap of faith, and a good lesson in making assumptions about others. You're a brave and sensitive soul.
My leap today deals with pasting my arse on my blog. My poor kids!
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[BusyDad] Oh! That would be a leap indeed. I could not do that. Post MY arse that is. Yours I can post no problem. :)
OMG. this story is excellent!! I am dying I am laughing so hard. am cracking up at you and your "Toshiba Satellite series laptop"...
dying at "home is where the bomb ass weed is at"
and of course, "I may be gangsta, but I’m still a dad." terrific ending. nice LEAP of FAITH!!!!! and one that certainly worked out~
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[BusyDad] And I have you to thank for inspiring the post. I had fun writing it. Experiencing it? Not so much in the beginning...
That was the best thing I've read all day, BusyD. I laughed, I cried, I held my breath and felt the heart race a few times even.
"isn’t it so true -- home is where the bomb ass weed is at"
Baha! You're a badass.
** Check out the "baha!" Pretty nifty, huh? A combo of Bwahaha and Haha.
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[BusyDad] I made HuckD's heart race? coool..."BAHA" love it. Mind if I add that to my repertoire?
That's probably the best blog I've ever read. I've said that before, but I really mean it this time.
Those chulos, if they were up to anything sinister, probably wouldn't be expecting MMA moves from the beige garbed Techie guy in the corner, eh?
And we Chicanos: we believe in cleanliness. :p
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[BusyDad] Ha, thanks Maria! I don't know... 3 on 1 and no ref? Out of my element!
Awesome story. I love the Metro. You never know what to expect.
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[BusyDad] Thanks Miss! We should ride it one day to get more blog fodder, yeah?
Why didn't you go with your homies to smoke summma dat craaazy sh*t fool??? Don't TELL me you went to WORK!?!?
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[BusyDad] Damn! I have a laptop too! I totally could have done my work while blazin my new friends. I bet they would have loved to learn how to optimize a website for Google too!
I totally imagined you doing the wut's up nod.. u are a bad ass gansta with a heart of gold. Love the first leap of faith story.. though I can't wait to see what the upcoming weeks bring.. ;)
But I have to give it to the guy who borrowed the phone who just got out of jail making the smoke summa dat phone calls from your phone.. Homeboy probably got busted on his phone which is how he landed in jail and figured the feds can't get to him if he uses other peoples phone.. LOL
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[BusyDad] Oh man! you're right. I better take that number off my speed dial.
Seee...karma its a good thing..just never know they may have 'your back' one day all because you took a leap...It is just a phone right? And isnt what you were left with more precious?
Great post!
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[BusyDad] I left with faith in humanity. That's for sure. Last scenario I expected. Especially the brownies! I actually tried really hard not to crack up at that moment. That might have been the end of me.
I think having kids was the catalyst for my becoming nicer to people. I used to just ignore everyone (I'm a bit of a hermit at heart), but I realized I wanted my kids to be friendlier than I was. Or at least offer them the tools to be. Now, I find myself giving change to homeless people even when the kids are not with me.
I loved this story.
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[BusyDad] That's true. Having a kid has given me less of an FU attitude toward people who might have otherwise pissed me off in my younger days. And I am DEFINITELY nicer to anyone with kids. Collective suffering! BAHA!
Way to go..You kept your pride and your Banana Republic's intact. I think I would have soiled myself!!
--TooMuchVino
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[BusyDad] Well, the worst of it I figured was the phone. Now if they asked to borrow my laptop? Well, all my blog files are on it. They would have experienced the full wrath of the WESTSIDE B-REP 187 (J) CREW.
Great story! It's amazing what a little faith in other people can yield.
I love this idea - I may join in next week, after I've had some time to think about it and come up with something.
Cheers to the weekend!
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[BusyDad] Thanks! Faith... mixed with a dash of fear. I can't let faith take all the credit on this one. Please join us. We can't be the only laughing stock in this blog hop circle.
Blackmail potential, eh?
I can't wait to read...
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[BusyDad] hmmm maybe I oversold it! haha. But definitely embarrassing stuff. On video.
Duuuuuuuuuude. Dude! That was the funniest shit I read all week. My God, am I so proud of you. :D
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[BusyDad] Thanks Mishie! Remember though - we still have our joint post, which may just trump this one.
Excellent story. I wrote my own crazy train ride story last month (a lot can happen overnight from London to Madrid on a train). I wonder if we all have these?
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[BusyDad] Ah - I gotta check it out then. But yeah, put 50 people in a box going 70 mph, and you're bound to shake something interesting out of it.
that is a great story!!! i'm another idiot...er...alpha female, who would have handed the guy my phone, and prayed he didn't stab me/kill me/rob me...
i have to check out this leap of faith idea...sounds amazing!!
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[BusyDad] That's why fate put us on opposite ends of the country. Too many of us in one place and civilization perishes.
If you really want to read about someone else's train insanity, here's the link: http://mommysmartini.blogspot.com/2008/01/have-ticket-will-travel.html
I can't figure out how to make that a tidy little link of just a few words here in whatever your platform is b/c the a href code I'm used to doesn't work here... Sorry. No need to publish this comment, necessarily; just wanted to pass on the link.
Also, I have to say I was so so sad to see that you closed the bloghopping list. I just found your site last week through OhMommy or Mr Lady (can't recall). Somehow half my blogroll is on your bloghoppers and I never figured that out. Perhaps if you get enough expressions of interest, you could create a Bloghoppers2 list? (though I'll probably end up lurking on the others I already know :)
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[BuzzeeDad] Friend of a friend? Good enough for me. I'll add you ;)
Great post. Had to let my wife (TheQueen) read it, being Mexican herself I was sure she would enjoy it. She was saying " OH NO! " and " Dude put that Sh#t away ", as she read down the page.
Great post again. I read you all the time and have blogrolled you ( for my enjoyment ). - TheKing
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[BuzzeeDad] HAHA! Glad you two were able to enjoy it! I don't think any my posts ever got running commentary before. I will certainly blogroll you as well. I have a backlog of blogs I need to update on my roll. I am terrible about that!
Dude, sick story, def. had me thinking all kinds of sh*t was about to go down, but yo, you held out and all was good. Anyway after just getting out of jail who the hell would want to do something to get them sent back, smart thinking on your part. Oh yeah and about going green that is my line of work. www.totalwellnessforyourfamily.com
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[BusyDad] That's very true. Why go back for a cell phone? I wasn't thinking that analytically at the time though, to tell the truth...
BuzzD in Banana. So gansta!
This was brilliant.
I bow down to you. Honestly, I do. All rise for the BuzzD in Banana.
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[BuzzeeDad] :D Thanks MommyOH! That's the Fri nite Blog Hopper booze talking. But I like booze talk. You think anyone has yet claimed the Banana Rep Set? I might have to start that chapter.
Very cool story. Too bad the cops will trace the call to your cell number, and your homies will claim that they had nothing to do with it. But hey, that's a small price for this tasty nugget of humanity.
blog hoppin!
-Virtual Varmint
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[BuzzeeDad] Is that why there's a Crown Vic parked in front of my house??
Oh. My. Gosh. Buzzee. I just don't even know what to say. You're one heck of a guy. You show that again and again in so many different ways. Calm and reasonable, you were. Amazing. Well done.
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[BuzzeeDad] Bimmgee!! How am I supposed to maintain my tough guy persona with you making me blush all the time!
Leap of Faith Friday is an excellent idea. I always knew that the hard gangsters talked about the weather.
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[BuzzeeDad] They get straight barometric on your ass!
You had me sweatin' bullets over here! How could you not give him your phone? You're riding the honor system Metro!
That was fabulous. I can't wait to read next week's leap!
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[BuzzeeDad] Thanks Sandy (hey, aren't you supposed to be Killer Tofu by this hour?). Honor system Metro - seriously that whole concept just cracks me up. Of all cities to try that in... LA???
Great story! And good for you taking that leap of faith! bomb ass weed . . . tee hee!
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[BuzzeeDad] Thanks Drunken Honey (can't say that name without laughing)! I know who to call if I ever need it! Got that number on my phone now.
What a wonderful post, homie!
I love the way he held your phone.
PS. I've ridden the 'T', I had a job that sent me to Boston for a week and I was totally impressed with the public transit system. Do you want to know what we have in AZ? We have bus. That's it. They are starting up a light rail which is a baby step to bigger and better things.
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[BuzzeeDad] ;) Thanks homeslice (did I just date myself or do the kids still say that?). The T totally rules. I hope your busses are nicer than the LA ones.
Leap of Faith Fridays... maybe it will inspire me to actually, you know, TAKE a leap! I'm so boring! Wonder what I can think up from pre-boring life...
Hot Mama
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[BuzzeeDad] Leap! Leap! Leap! Do something nuts and post it. After all, isn't that what we're all here for?
oh that was some dope story, dude. but now seriously, the next time someone asks to borrow my phone, i'll ask them to buy me a brownie, first.
(see, I showed up, as promised, dad)
~ aka stumbleina
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[BuzzeeDad] Glad you stumbled your way here! Ha - the new personality metric: The Brownie Phone Test.
Jim...fantastic post and inspiring story.
Just one thing. I know you were trying to be as authentic as possible, but really, "conversate?"
I'm about to revoke your Harvard status.
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[BuzzeeDad] Hey! That's how gangstas say it. You wouldn't understand! Quiet about the H. You're killing my street cred girl!
I can count how many times I've been on the metro now (about 8)...but with MY luck? I'm in front of the pay machine being honest and goodie goodie as always but the train rolls up while I'm fiddling with coins in my wallet since I don't want 18 dollar coins to drop out of the machine like last time and I think screw it, I've never had to pay nor see anyone else pay and the next train is in 15 minutes and I need to get to the airport. I scamper to the train with my luggage in tow and make it before the door closes. THAT day a metro cop dude saw me! he decided to stroll to everyone and feel important and productive. They made me and a few others get off the next stop. So to them metro police coppies - if you're reading this you suck!! Pick on someone your own size, there's no need to be gruff and macho to me - get a real criminal!
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[d Bro] You are so lucky. I have never seen them let anyone go like that. Unless they're homeless. All other people get the $300 ticket.
Dude, you crack me the *censored* up.
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[BuzzeeDad] That made me happy. It also made me happy that you respected the family-friendly use of words on my site. However, you (and everyone else who may be thinking of commenting), may use bad words. Whenever you want. I don't swear on this because my mom reads it. No other reason.
Love that! It restores a tiny bit of faith in my vision of mankind. (I'm still in the midst of my mid-life angst crisis, though.)
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[BusyDad] Thanks CG (or GN)! Seriously. It did the same for me. Treat people with respect and it comes back to you. Sadly, I don't see that happening all that much these days.
I. am. rolling.
I needed a laugh and I got one!
A Leap of Faith and you helped to renew your own and his faith in humanity. BD, this story rocked!! Love This!!!
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[BusyDad] Thanks Rachel! And I totally didn't realize it until you said it, but it probably did restore his faith too. You're so right.
I love the image of you all tech-ed out, hanging with the homies on the Metro.Can't read to real more of the leaps of faith. Gotta dig one out from the vault! Another great idea - thanks for the inspiration.
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[BusyDad] It must've looked extra funny to the passengers because these were all the folks from their own hood who hadn't given them the time of day. Yes, LEAP with us!
i too, am from the skreets mr. busy dad. what an inspiring story and reaffirmation for trust in my fellow man.
i have felt slighted many a time by those who only see my outside. lest a book be judged by it's cover before its contents are completely revealed.
thank you for the life lesson. kudos.
you are a great man and friend to... ok sorry i can't do this any more.
that shit was dope dawg!
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[BusyDad] Now that we got the formalities out of the way -- I got some bomb ass weeeed from my new connection, wanna blaze?