« If you don’t like it, just stand! » shouted a man occupying three seats on the subway to a 72-year-old woman leaning on a cane. But when the woman replied, the smile vanished completely from her face.
My name is Korina, I’m 39 years old, and I live in Paris. That afternoon, I was coming home from work on metro line 1. I was tired, I had a book in my bag, and all I wanted was to go home. But what was happening right before my eyes, I couldn’t ignore.
The man was in his forties, tall, solidly built, and wearing a designer coat. He was sitting in the middle of a three-seater bench, his knees so far apart that the two women next to him could barely fit. Two stops earlier, a young woman had asked him to make some room for her. He had told her to leave if she didn’t like it. The woman had gotten off without a word.
