A Man Kept Crowding Women on the Subway and Telling Them to Stand

The young woman stared at the floor, jaw tight, and I felt ashamed of how long I’d spent hoping someone else would say something.

Two stops later, she got off, the toddler’s sock dangling from her hand.

A tiny elderly woman with a cane took the seat.

She wore a mustard-yellow coat and a hat with a small brass pin.

She kept one hand on her cane while she lowered herself, feeling for the seat with the other.