Speaking out about Extinction on Metro North
Because silence is a luxury we can no longer afford
Working with Extinction Rebellion NYC has emboldened me to speak the truth and act as if it is real. Last week, I wrote about my adventures in their Subway Talk training, and how it took lots of courage to yell about the climate emergency on a loud subway car. Let’s face it, it is only socially acceptable for women to yell in public if their kid is in danger or if they are being mugged or raped. I did not realize this until I took that first deep breath and delivered my one minute one sided climate conversation in that noisy subway car.
Last Friday, I discovered it took even more chutzpah to deliver a mini extinction talk on a quiet MetroNorth commuter train. I re-wrote my little script to fine tune it for the Westchester audience. My hands were shaking as I wrote, because I know my community chooses to remain comfortably uninvolved with the climate crisis.
I chose Friday because I knew the trains would have at least a few young people headed for the climate strike downtown. I wanted to encourage these kids to speak out, and I figured the best way to do that was to speak out myself.
I waited until we were south of White Plains, when the train goes express to 125th street. That way I would not be in the way of passengers making their way on or off the train. I stood up, took a deep breath and got started.
Almost immediately, I was interrupted by a man in a suit who yelled, “ QUIET CAR!” I turned to him and said, “nope, thats the next car back” and kept on reciting my script. It was short and to the point. I thanked everyone for their time and walked thru the car handing out XR flyers. A conductor approached me saying she didn’t think I could do that. I let her know I was only giving flyers to those who wanted one so no, I was not soliciting.
A little shaky from the experience, I moved on to the next car. It was during my second talk that I was rudely yelled at by a man in a suit. “SHUT UP! NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR IT!” the angry suit yelled at me. “I’ll just be a minute,” I replied. He continued to rant about how he pays $300 a month to ride this train and how no one cares about climate change. “LET HER SPEAK!!” kids and women started to chant. This emboldened me to finish my talk. When I did, I turned to the man and said extra forcefully, ‘THANK YOU FOR LISTENING”. The car broke out into wild applause. I walked thru the car and handed out most of my flyers, hands shaking. Kids on the train took them gladly. I looked them right in the eye and reminded them that they need to speak the truth loudly, even if their voice shakes. That’s when my tears started. It hit me that these kids will not grow up to be comfy grumpy suit wearers. They are awake.
I gave one more talk in the next car and handed out my remaining flyers. No resistance in that car. I could have done more, but without the flyers it didn’t make sense to push it.
Perhaps I need to persist in disrupting commuter trains like Greta who started climate strikes all by herself. Perhaps more Extinction Rebellion rebels will follow my example and speak loudly about the emergency which is happening right now. It is clear to me that the folks wearing suits are the ones who most need to hear this information. Whether they like it or not.
