NYC subway rider with rat and spaghetti

This video highlights the colorful experiences to be had as a NYC subway commuter: in this case, it's an eccentric gentleman who rambles incoherently while eating spaghetti and petting a tame rat on his lap.

Rat on New York City Subway. 2 (via Digg)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

That’s messed up. You’re not supposed to eat on the subway.
Romey

This is why subway cars need to be easy to clean, as the NYC subway cars are. Just hose ‘em down with water and disinfectant late at night. I just moved from NYC to SF. BART has carpeted floors and upholstered seats. I guess no one realized there would be rat-toting spaghetti eaters. Ugh.
Anonymous

Not that I’m condoning taking rats on the subway with me as it can be a little confronting for people not used to them being so close, but – I’ve had pet rats and not only are they incredibly clean animals (like a cat they’ll use a designated space out of the way for toilet-like-activities and they are constantly cleaning themselves) but they are also highly intelligent and quite discerning in who they like and don’t like. One of my own rats used to happily sleep in my hoodie hood when I was studying late and night and loved riding along in there when I went for late night walks to stretch my legs. I really miss that little guy.
Anyhoo, just saying that rats are awesome pets and highly affectionate but maybe don’t take them on the subway lest you start a stampede.
The spaghetti, well…..as much as I’d like to be cool about it I can’t say I’d be too pleased if the train stopped suddenly and I copped it in my lap. Urgh.
Anonymous

it’s good that rat are not saint animals like monkey in India, isn’t it?

but i guess, it’s a saint animal in NY. the same as bedbug
theawesomerobot

Charlie Day?
Suburbancowboy

You are not allowed to have food or drink on the subway. It’s dirty and attracts rats. This guy has it all covered.
Anonymous

I thought Charlie Kelly lived in Philly?
Jack

Man, you know. I grew up in NYC in 1970s, 1980s and part of the 1990s. And nowadays the NYC subways is devolving back to the 1970s. How wonderful!
Jack

Folks, I tweeted about this video and the guy who shot the video apparently has a SPAM-bot who is promoting an eBay auction for the full 9 minute video.

Not posting the user or auction because I donâ€™t want to encourage this. But do want to FYI folks.
eatingbeets

ugh… hate it when people eat on the subway.
Emo Pinata

Why do people find it so hard to point a fucking camera at what they are filming. Annoys me almost as much as people who use their iPhone camera sideways.
- sally599
  
  1) This was probably done without the rat guys knowledge.
  
  2) The train is pretty bumpy—much more so than a car.
Anonymous

Haters gonna Hate
Anonymous

If it’s a rat, it’s a baby. And I tend to think just a clean subway mouse. Y’all gotta be sure it is in fact a rat before you go in for the tabloidy hype. (Signed) Someone who rides the NYC subway rails every day
Anonymous

he is not rambling incoherently.

Haters gonna Hate indeed.
Michael Smith

I bet that rat owner is a great ROV driver.
alllie

I love all animals but I don’t see having a free living rat. Rats are continually peeing a little to lay down a trail for themselves and other rats. Not to mention pooping when they feel like it. This has made me see rats as very large cockroaches. Even though they are social and can be affectionate I think the peeing and pooping part disqualifies them as house pets.
- sirkowski
  
  Your knowledge of pet rats is all wrong.
emilydickinsonridesabmx

That guy is breaking every subway etiquette rule there is.

1.) Eating on the subway. It’s gross, stinks up the car and attracts bugs and vermin.

2.) Having a pet on the subway. It’s fine to bring your pet on the subway if it’s in a cage. Bringing an unconfined animal on the subway is terrible. It isn;t safe for the animal, they can get thrown around or crushed. It’s selfish to other people who may be allergic to animals. It’s unsanitary. Animals poop and pee wherever they like, which meas the next person may be sitting or touching the pets bodily discards.

3.) He is speaking loudly. It’s aggravating when you are stuck in a subway car with a loud person, when you want to read or keep to yourself, and they jeep jabbering on.

4.) Encouraging people to think rats are cure. OK, his rat appears to be a pet, so see rule #2. Still, rats are disease vectors and pests. Having a rat crawling around you in public is like toting around a disease factory.

Several million people per day ride the NYC subway. I’m sure I sound curmudgeonly, but the only way the subway is just about bearable is if everyone follows the rules. If just .01% of the riders flaunt the rules and act like jerks, the whole mass transit system will break down.
sirkowski

That’s a well behaved rat.

I could never eat with my rats. They would just jump in my plate (gross) and steal food. Giving them a portion wouldn’t work because they were more interested in the bigger plate.
Jack

Several million people per day ride the NYC subway. I’m sure I sound curmudgeonly, but the only way the subway is just about bearable is if everyone follows the rules. If just .01% of the riders flaunt the rules and act like jerks, the whole mass transit system will break down.

Absolutely! This one guy completely marrs an otherwise flawless system of on-time trains, audible announcements, friendly staff and passengers and a cleanliness is beyond compare. Fare hike? Why not! They deserve it!
Anonymous

That isn’t a “tame” rat–that would imply it was taken from the wild. That’s a domesticated rat bred to kept as a pet. There are physiological differences, as well as health risk differences (wild rats = diseased, domesticated rats = no more than other pets).
Kev

Cute rat.
GP

He wasn’t that incoherent – I mean people understood him and his horrible bastardized English.
eyemyth

It’s like a Kool Keith song come to life.
Bill Beaty

First Subway Rat video …that was just someone’s pet, looking for its human.

If a city rat climbs up your shirt, takes a glance at your face, then climbs back down, don’t panic. It just means “nope, wrong person, must be on the next car back.”
Bill Beaty

It’s probably easy to become the Tesla of the nonflying rats. Just sit on the part bench feeding rats every day. Soon they’ll be perching all over your shoulders and head. Wherever you walk, your flock will seek you out.

Eccentric inventor? No, not nearly eccentric enough.
- MadRat
  
  I love rats. I’ve always wanted to find them in the wild but they’re so far down the food chain that the only way you could get any lower was to be a bug. I’ve never seen more than the briefest little flash.
  
  Anon #21: Yes rats are a sacred animal. In India the elephant-headed god Ganesh rides a rat and is often pictured with a rat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha#Vahanas There is also the temple of Karni Mata were rats are worshiped. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karni_Mata The rat is also the first animal in the Asian zodiac. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_(zodiac) St. Gertrude of Nivelles is also associated with rats due to a vision she had. She is often seen with rats at her feet or scurrying up her staff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_of_Nivelles
Avram / Moderator

“Rambles incoherently”? He’s having a conversation about the rat, and people’s reactions to it, with the passengers sitting near him; towards the end he’s talking about some people he knew who had rats in their apartment.