lol. you are funny Mari ...

NY is a different kind of place - so to really feel this I think you have to have spent some time here. The social dynamics involved in the subway mass transit experience are pretty involved. I'm sure it would make a great dissertation... There is a class element, there is a wide range of ethnicities, stereotypes...

I guess I hope that the fellow criticizing the pan-handler will think about his behavior and attitude. I've been in HIS shoes and made an @22 of myself in front of people before. I've also been corrected. I've felt humiliated; but I've learned from it.

When the fellow began his criticism of the fellow in the faux Rockport shoes, he involved the entire car. He spoke in a loud voice that invited all in ear shot to hear him.

I know that when I behave that way it is because I'm seeking the attention and approval of the people around me - and generally that I think they share my sentiment.

Again, you have to understand NYC at this level.

So for me to call him out on that was a shock to him. He had no idea how any of us were perceiving him.

For the people around him it was an affirmation that a middle class white man would stand up in the panhandler's defense. (he was not a white man)

The man doing the criticizing was of Indian/Pakistani ethnic background.

So you have to understand all of that before you get the full flavor of the story...

The ethnicities don't matter, but the dynamic they create - the expections, the unspoken beliefs matter a LOT.