Submitted by am_pomegranate t3_yfotwd in philadelphia
I take El to school every morning. When I got on this morning, everyone was sandwiched together in the back and middle segments of the car while the front had a man who was either on drugs or not taking the ones he was prescribed banging against the tran walls, smearing chocolate bars everywhere, and spitting on the glass/plastic plane dividing the seating area from the front doorway. These two kids, a younger boy and a teen girl, were the only people to stay in the doorway, and the man frequently screamed the f-slur at them and shouted things like "are you scared? Are you fucking scared, f****ts?! Not gonna come at me you f****ts?!". He never attacked or touched the kids and they were both unharmed when they got off, but next time something like this happens on the train, is there something different I should do? Is there a way the kids could've been helped if he did try to attack them? Thanks.
uptown_gargoyle t1_iu4f88a wrote
In that exact situation the only other thing I can think of besides doing nothing would be to stand up, but keep a good amount of distance, and say to those kids "Hey, do you guys wanna come sit back here?"
Either the kids were unfazed, which, if that's the case, good on them; or they felt like they might have been put at risk by turning their backs and walking away, in which case knowing that you're there and watching and inviting them to back away might make it easier for them.