Subway Diaries

I have never felt 100% comfortable on the Subway, a cool casual New Yorker who can go body to body with the throngs of society like its NBD.  Then again my Subway experiences haven't exactly been a bed of English roses.  The homeless man that spends his days at the 52nd Street stop of the E Train tells me every time I walk by that women belong in the kitchen not in the workplace (he also has strong feelings against tall people, lesbians, and red heads).  Additionally, I was on a train last year in which a man told me that sometimes you must kill people to make peace.  At which point all other passengers looked on as if he had asked me the weather and I had to hop off at the wrong stop and run out of Grand Central as if my pants were on fire.  Clearly when it comes to fight or flight - I'm a flight.  Today, I grabbed the M train and was lucky enough to find myself a seat during rush hour.  Shortly after, a rather intimidating fellow sat down next to me with no hint of a smile and three perfectly tattooed tear drops underneath his right eye.  How sweet.  The perfectly painted drops were a stark contrast to his hard jawline and beady eyes so I moved a few inches to the left and decided to concentrate on my US Weekly instead of his disarming but cute tattoo.  It wasn't until later that I verified the unsettled feeling in my stomach with the following Google research:

'The teardrop tattoo or tear tattoo is a symbolic tattoo that is placed underneath the eye....The meaning was that the wearer had killed someone...It is also often used in prison to warn other convicts that the wearer has killed.'

Consider me warned.  Most Wiki answers state that open tear drops could mean that the gang member is just mourning a loss of a brother or dear friend, my subway neighbor's tears were generously colored in.  Great, one tear drop for each crime.  They should really consider changing it up so the symbols are a little more of a red flag for the rest of the unassuming community.  How about tattooing 'I am a Hardened Criminal', this way we have no mixed messages - OK?