A Shitty Day

We left our windowless, A.C.less room about an hour too early this morning to make it to the train station on time. It was just before five in the morning and already the horns were Honking and the rickshaws were out in full force. We caught a ride for about thirty cents a piece, which I'm told might have been too much, passing the sleeping homeless and early rising merchants. By the time we hit the station ten minutes later the city seemed wide awake. Somewhat. The station is open-air and could easily be described as Post-Apocalyptic. Broken tile floors with sleeping bodies (or I hope they were sleeping) littered about and in every other available surface the people were already moving back and forth. This was just after five. We made our way to the platform with an hour to spare. Nothing to do but either confront or ignore the thousands of stares coming from all sides. I had my eye on one drowsy looking stick of a man with his back to me when I noticed that he was actually peeing on the platform. And then he stood there. And the people were still staring at us. Then a few minutes later the stick man took hold of his pant leg and began to shake until pieces of shit fell out near his ankle. And he remained standing there. And the people were still staring at us. At us! He took a few more minutes, slipped out a few more lumps, got some on his feet, and then walked three feet to a pillar and scraped the shit from between his toes. I was too entranced to notice anyone staring at me. Later someone slipped in it.

As the train rolled along we passed the type of slums that I've only seen in National Geographic or Time. Such a sad display of existence that I couldn't attach an emotion to it. I just watched with me eyes stuck. And then we started to pass "The Poopy Fields". Andrew had forewarned us and it was everything I had expected. Men pooping everywhere. Some hidden in the grass, others squatting directly on the tracks. It seemed ludicrous, like I was in a perverse Dr. Seuss book. They stared in our windows as we passed with their pants down and.... You know what, I'm just gonna stop there. It did seem to take the edge of the rest of the sights. What I mean is that multiple men pooping outdoors in "The Poopy Fields" is so very funny.