A couple of days ago I had to change metro line from green to red at Fort Totten metro station. I went to upper level and looked at the schedule on the screen, which said the next train comes in 9 minutes. I stood and rested my back on the column by the a long bench where a young couple was sitting. They spoke Spanish and had a son (who could have been 7 or 8 years old) who was playing game on his father's cell phone. A moment later with hands holding his crotch, the little boy asked his mom to take him to the restroom. She was glued to her cell phone. At first she ignored, then the boy kept yelling at her mom. She said something that the boy turned to his father. His father told him in English: "Pee!," pointing to the ground "Here! Pee here!" The little boy turned around and looked at me and turned his back as shyness manifested in his face. I was observing this with a great surprise as the father kept yelling at his young son to pee at the station platform...
sporadic thoughts and reflections of an anthropology phd student