Should eating on the NYC subway be illegal?

The smell of someone eating inside a subway train is unmistakable, and to me, unbearable.

You enter the car, and everyone smells like McDonald's french fries or whatever. That's actually not as bad as entering a car and smelling Chinese food. Ugh, there is just something about the smell of food inside the enclosed space of a subway car that is gross even if, under other circumstances, you would like that food.

All this was brought to mind of course by the now-famous video (first posted NYC the blog.com) of three women arguing over the etiquette of eating a steaming plate of  spaghetti on a moving, crowded subway (photo). I mean, really. One woman refers to the spaghetti-eater as an "animal" and all hell breaks loose, including the spaghetti that goes flying.

No doubt the woman who referred to the other two as an "animal" was dead wrong, and should never have done that. And yes, this was, in my opinion, a racial incident because the name-caller appears white and the other two women are African-American. There is a lot of simmering (and exploding) hate in this video. But I can understand why the woman would not want to sit next to someone with her face in a plate of spaghetti. Good manners don't end when you slide your MetroCard through the turnstile.

I have a big problem with people who eat anything more than a candy bar or a bagel or sweet bun on the subway. My wife doesn't agree. She thinks working people with two jobs sometimes have no choice but to eat on their commute. I think you can find other places to chow down.

And don't get me started on those coffee drinkers. How many times have I cringed while standing in a crowded, moving subway while the person next to me opens the lid on a very hot cup of coffee and gingerly begins sipping it. Subways tend to stop short, make sharp turns and jostle people around. There is no way someone can guarantee they won't spill. And what then?Sorry? Oy.

I say ban eating on the subway, except for water and a candy bar or energy bar. They'll be a lot less garbage and no incidents like the one in this video, at least not over food. Oh and, in case you were wondering, yes I am against eating subways on the subway...unless you're a hero. LOL Never mind.

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