Due to my love for sleep, I set up my class schedule to allow me to be able to wake up late, and avoid the rush of New Yorkers in the morning.  Another advantage of my schedule is that I am able to avoid the craziness of the trains when high school and middle school students flood our subway system once they are let out of school.  Riding uptown between 2 o'clock and 3 is usually not a fun sight to see in my experience.  During this instance, though I avoided the hour of insanity, I still was presented with a couple minutes of immaturity.

I was riding on the downtown D train on my way home from class, when a group of young people entered the train on the 125th street station. From the looks of it, none of these boys were over the age of 16 or 17.  I noticed one was holding a radio, so I constructed the idea that I would be entertained with a dance number during this long stop to Columbus Circle.  To my surprise, once the train began moving i was presented with another form of entertainment.   

The music on my ipod began to be overwhelmed with the sounds of fierce arguing.  Normally I am one to mind my own business, but I paused the song I was listening to, to hear what all the fuss was about.  Two of the young people, who had seemed to be friends coming into the train, were yelling at each other back and forth.  I wish I could say what they were arguing about, but the meaning behind their words were drowned out by their constant use of the n-word and other curses.  Then in one moment, a fist landed on the other's face, which spiraled into an all out brawl between the two.  They wrestled to the ground, throwing punches at each other's ribs and heads as if they were in their own boxing ring.  Another member of their group moved to try to separate them, but two others grabbed him as one kept repeating, "Let them fight it out... Let them fight it out."

As they were fighting, my short attention span directed me to notice the reactions on people's faces as they watched the brawl.  This is what I found most interesting, since there was mixed reactions throughout the audience.  A young woman's face who was sitting right in front of the action was completely shocked.  Her hand covered her mouth as she sat in fear of what was happening.  A middle aged man sitting next to her looked in utter disappointment.  He watched shaking his head constantly, and I can only imagine what his perception is on today's youth.  There were few people who seemed to enjoy the view.  They laughed and some even took pictures and videos on their phone.  Personally, I watched and knew not what to think.  I just continued to sit, hoping that my face would end up in the background of a youtube video.