May he rest in peace eternally
Anytime I write about awful odors on the CTA, I get emails and comments from readers who want to share their foul stories. This one takes the cake for being among the saddest and most disturbing:
I once got on the Red Line with a friend and we were immediately assaulted by the most foul, rank odor I've ever smelled in my life. Everyone on the train had their shirts over their noses and looked like they were going to be sick. We tried to move to the other side of the train but the smell was just as strong.
At the next stop (Grand, I believe), the doors opened and a couple of cops entered our car, carrying a body bag. They walked straight to the Hobo Corner and left a few minutes later, having filled the bag.
Later that night, while watching the news, I discovered that a hobo had died in the Hobo Corner. It was a little disturbing and very ironic.
i think that's the most disturbing thing i've ever read on here.
and that is saying something.
Posted by: kate | February 19, 2007 at 12:42 PM
Oh god. When was this?
I was on a Red Line car the other day that smelled unmistakably like a rotting corpse. It was before I went to New York--I think maybe last Friday night (the 9th).
I changed cars.
I thought maybe a rat got into the HVAC system or something, but the idea that it could have been a person is really awful.
Posted by: Tony Coppoletta | February 19, 2007 at 02:08 PM
WGN's Nick D show had a discussion of irony, and while certainly disturbing, this seems to be more of an example of tragic coincidence than irony. If a hobo were to die in the Hobo's Corner, while the death might not be expected, if it were to occur, that would be a logical place. It might be irony if the inventor of longitudinal seating was riding a conventional car and died in the Hobo's Corner. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony#Types_of_irony
Posted by: jackonthebus | February 19, 2007 at 02:17 PM
I thought they clean the cars after each trip. NOT! You can see garbage all over the cars in the morning rush hours. My God, now it's even dead people!
Posted by: caerider | February 20, 2007 at 04:12 PM
The idea that a post about smeone dying on a public transit vehicle would lead to a discussion of how ofteh they cleah the trains is repugnant to me.
With CTA back to 1993 ridership levels, everything from birth to death is bound to happen. W 1.5 million rips or so a day, they should have every thing from births to deaths along the line.
It is lucky that we don't hear about more of this!
Posted by: The Traveler | February 24, 2007 at 04:16 AM
I was on that train! We unknowingly jumped on the train with the dead guy, and thought we hit jackpot. Hey, look at all these free seats!
Ten seconds later, the smell hit me like a truck. The guy was a few feet away, and his socks appeared to be covered in a runny brown substance. We looked at the rest of the people on the train and saw them all on the opposite side, holding their noses.
Whoops. We switched cars at the next stop, then they removed him at Grand. Yuck.
Posted by: John | February 26, 2007 at 11:05 AM