Philly Is No Joke

by: Avery

As the SEPTA subway train rocked forward, a thirty-something guy leaned over near the doorway and gently planted a kiss on the little boy at his side. When the train neared the Fairmount Avenue stop shortly after midnight on Thursday, the man reached out like an adoring parent and directed the 3- or 4-year-old tyke to an open seat. Then he flew into a monstrous rage.

Without uttering a word, police said, the unidentified man whipped out a double-claw hammer and began bludgeoning a 20-year-old man who was dozing off in his seat. I don’t even know what to say about that. I mean, I love Philly and all, but it’s gully. Dude gets beaten with a hammer and nobody on the train does anything? Course, I can’t front: I probably wouldn’t have jumped in by myself, although I might have gotten another passenger to try to rush the attacker. But still. I don’t know if you gon’ see me on the Broad Street Line any time soon.