The temp job I was working at dealt with sending children’s test scores to parents that were unable to get them from a faulty website. It was about as interesting as it sounds. As Mickey Rourke mumbled in the movie Barfly, “You have no idea how adults suffer for children.” It was that type of morning.
So, as I have done so many mornings before, I dragged my sorry ass down to the 59th Street subway station to join the rest of the great unwashed for the morning commute.
Oh No.
As I got to the bottom of the staircase, the bag search table was out. And poppa’s got a brand new backpack.
Let me take you on a little detour before I tell you what came next. Everyone has sensitive spots; here’s one of mine.
My father’s side of the family, which is Jewish, came from Germany. My Dad was 7 years old in 1937 when his family had a choice: leave by boat or through a crematorium chimney. Now that situation didn’t happen overnight. It happened bit-by-bit, right-by-right. So when I perceive that my rights are being violated, my Spidey sense kicks into overdrive. Do I take my paranoia a little too far? As the saying goes, just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me.
Over the last eight years in America, many of our constitutional rights have been trampled. We have had illegal wiretapping, torture and the erosion of habeas corpus at Club Guantanamo Bay.
What happened in World War II Germany can happen here. And if you think it can’t, ponder this: My father’s family lived in the same village in Mannheim, Germany for 400 years. My uncle was decorated with the Iron Cross in World War I, which was one of the highest honors you could get as a soldier; it was awarded for acts of heroism, bravery and possibly winning a schnitzeleating contest. But the Nazis arrived, and it was game over. Get out or get done. Don’t tell me it can’t happen in America. It can happen anywhere.
Think about how the word terrorist is used. It is almost always used generically. So the “war” will go on indefinitely.We will be kept afraid indefinitely. And we will have our rights eroded indefinitely in the name of “national security.”
Welcome to America.The enemy is now YOU. Look at how many security cameras there are around New York City—on the streets, in shops, in buildings, in subways.
Are they there for your security, or are they there keeping an eye on you? Ben Franklin said “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.” And here’s your last piece of history to chew on: “An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation.
We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland.” Was this George W. Bush after 9/11? Nein, mein fruendes, it was Adolf Hitler in a speech introducing that wacky homeland security force known as The Gestapo to the public.
Queue the spooky music now. But back to the subway… The American Civil Liberties Union had sued New York City in 2005 deeming subway bag search unconstitutional. The case was lost in appeal.
The sight of cops searching bags always makes me angry and queasy at the same time. And does it do anything? Nope. The search is voluntary, which means you can turn around and take your bomb somewhere else. In addition, for every subway stop these searches are stationed, there are countless others without them. Either cover every stop or don’t waste my time and my tax dollars with this circle jerk. I usually try to duck the bag search.
There was no ducking them on this particular Tuesday, though. There were four cops, packing guns, nightsticks, the works.
“Sir, can you please put your bag on the table?” “Can you open this part?” “Now this one.” “This one too.” “What’s the matter… are you OK?” At this point I was totally nauseous.
“I’m not really enjoying this.” “We’re not enjoying it either.” “Open this part.” After opening every orifice of my backpack I felt totally humiliated.They probably saw how upset I looked and mistook it for nervousness. That’s the only reason I can think of that they went through everything in my bag. “Thanks a lot, have a nice day.” I started to walk toward the turnstile.
“This is not really the beginning of a nice day.” They found this funny. “Glad to help you out,” one yelled. At that point I could feel the bile and rage rise to my throat cutting through my fog of humiliation.
“Yeah? Go fuck yourself.” In slow motion I heard the words come out of my own mouth, and by the time I got to “self” I knew this was not a good move. Looking back, it was like A Christmas Story, when Ralphie was helping his Dad change the tire. As soon as that “Fudge” came out of my mouth, I knew I was in ta-rubble.
“Come over here!” Fight or Flight? I chose the latter. As I tried to swipe my card through the turnstile, alas it would not let me through. I think the turnstile flashed something to the effect of You are so fucked. Please swipe again.
I couldn’t swipe again. My arms were no longer my own as two cops had control of them. I was being dragged up one of the stair levels, becoming the morning’s entertainment for the rush-hour commuters. They cops gave me a nice shove, not bad for distance, and that was it. As I did my walk of shame back up the rest of the stairs to the street, you can imagine I had many thoughts.
As I started to cool off, I thought about what an amazingly stupid thing I had just done. I am not Hemingway, Bukowski or Dolemite. I told four armed NYC cops to go fuck themselves. How fucking dumb am I? I placed myself into some street theater that nearly got me busted up but good. I believe it was only by the grace of the morning rush volume that I didn’t end up in a world of shit. Looking back, it’s probably a better idea to talk to the ACLU about options to fight these searches by other means than opening my big pie hole to men with guns and clubs. I need to remember that the cops are only pawns in a much bigger game. But hell, I got a great story out of this. So go fuck yourself. C
Steve Strauss spends his time spreading Obama hope and trying to stay out of trouble. Check in with him at paperbackwriter909@yahoo.com.
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