Singing on the Subway

It was a late Saturday afternoon in New York City. The subways, as usual, were crowded. Lots of activity. Lots of scurrying jostling for position. Lots of passengers. On one of the trains a gentleman rose from his seat at the subway's doors closed and the train began to move down the track. He cleared his throat and began to sing a song I, for one, had never heard. Some of the lyrics touched on such things as "fancy boats" and "giant mansions." The lines resonated with me only to the extent I have none of those things. My guess is the singer does not either. At the end of the song, he asked the passengers for money to help him pay for dinner that night. No one, including me, gave him any.


I find this brief episode  to be worth the mention because it drove-home the fact that communication outreach efforts come in all kind of forms and sizes and that many of them, regardless of the sincerity of their messenger or the level of creativity behind them, work. The reasons are many. Perhaps, for instance, it had to do with the people at the receiving end of the song. Maybe they did not want to be bothered. Perhaps the messenger should have selected another song or maybe he should have done without a song completely and directly asked folks for money. Either way, reasons for the pitch's failure, I suspect, could be found in both camps. I say that without passing judgment on either one.


Connecting with others represents the ultimate communication challenge for all of us. Regardless the circumstance, what the motivating forces might be, or even the quality of the act of reaching out, for us to come even close to maintaining some level of dignity, self-worth or esteem, we as living creatures need our efforts to connect to work. If they do not, then what defines us the begins we are vanishes. This particular man at that particular time choose to connect via his song and his message of seeking financial help. As I departed the subway leaving him to reach out to a new influx of passengers, I found myself hoping he found success.