7.04.2025

Trapped on the metro between a pair of extremely drunk middle-aged Quebecois guys and a group of teenagers who picked at the strap from my shoulder bag while I tried to read. I said nothing and moved closer to the drunk guys. At one point a screeching match broke out between the two groups. This is not an exaggeration. No idea who started it because in a compressed environment with a high degree of background noise my neurons are confused. It's a prosthetic ear drum thing. But directionally I am sometimes compromised with regard to sound. Anyway someone started this high pitched cackling screaming thing like you might expect from a tropical bird. The other group responded. Like they were jamming, communicating. Competing. Saying look how obnoxious we can be and no one can do anything about it. The only non-participants were me and a tiny lady with a mop bucket who looked like she was trying to disappear, camouflage herself like an octopus against the vanilla pudding panels. Then the drunkest of the drunk guys stumbled over to the teenagers and was all giving high fives and saying I love the youth, you guys are the future, anyway fuck me, he says, I'm old. One of the kids yells yeah fuck you. He stumbles back to his friend who appears to have no opinion on the matter. Mercifully it's my stop and me and the lady with the mop disembark. Several steps toward the escalator and the subway doors close and we can still hear the cackling.