On my way home from dinner tonight, about 8 teenage boys got on the L train at Union Square going into Brooklyn. They were of different heights and probably early high school, possibly middle school age. They all wore jeans and either sneakers or Timberland-type boots. Some of them had jeans that were hanging below the waistline and some had baseball hats on; fashion was linked to hip-hop culture. They wore mostly neutral colors and their skin colors varied from white to dark. They were particularly easy to observe because they were so loud; playfully loud. They were repeatedly saying, "Ohhhh"... gradually increasing in volume.
As our train left the station they were yelling about a girl who had no shirt on, as if she was on the platform in Union Square. After that I could not understand what they were talking about even when I tried. A few of them hung on the bars and slightly swung from the bars. If their volume started to decrease some of them would start yelling again. Most of the other people on the train ignored them and some looked their way out of curiosity.
When I observe NYC teenagers on the subway or around my apartment, they often speak loudly. I try and listen, but I often cannot fully understand what they are saying. They may say words to describe what is happening in the moment, or possibly talking about their friends, but not much more. When I saw these boys on the train, I couldn't understand what they were talking about at all. I wondered if they had an inside joke that they were talking about, like many teenagers may, but I could not tell. There is something in that sub-culture that I am not completely literate to.
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