Precious Moment IV

On the ranking of thankless jobs, religious proselytizer on the New York City subway has to be in the top 3. Has anyone ever been converted from an atheist to a believer between 14th Street and 59th Street? From a Buddhist to a Jehovah's Witness between Bloomingdales and 86th Street? Given what must be their demoralizing failure rate, I would like to be the saint,who, imprisoned underground with no means of escape, could listen to their unrelenting, stentorian rants with a beatific smile, understanding that in their deluded brains they think they are helping us sinners. Instead, rage rises in me and only the fear of being stabbed by one of these loons, keeps my from shouting out, " SHUT THE FUCK UP ." I'm afraid that the harangues of holy rollers on the 8th Avenue line, have the unintended consequence of bringing out my worse nature. Startled out of my New Yorker by a blaring voice with a Nigerian accent, my first thought is not "He's doing God's work." Rather, it's, "Go back to Nigeria, " which I'm so mortified to even think, that I immediately change it to "Go sell knock-off Fendi's in Times Square and leave me the fuck alone." Given my distaste for the obnoxious, intrusive converter I'm used to, I was delighted to observe one who employed a altogether different and more congenial tack. This D train missionary was a white male ,jean clad, clean shaven, with long hair, armed with a bible and a cross, cut out of newsprint. He sat down next to a Chassidic man in a long black coat and black hat who was engrossed in reading the Talmud. He quietly said to the Chassid, " I see you're a religious man and you must know that all men are sinners. I'm sure you're a good man, but you're a sinner too and if you accept Jesus Christ in your heart, he will save you." The Chassid did not look up, keeping his head in Rashi. The missionary took out his newsprint cross to show to the Chassid, who still did not shift his gaze from his tome. The missionary surrendered,saying, " It was nice to talk to you. It was nice meeting you." The Chassid finally looked up, acknowledged the proselytizer and said "It was nice to meet you too." Agreed that the D train missionary is not the most astute at selecting targets for conversion. But unlike the other wackos who try to foist their beliefs on others, he made me smile and although I didn't see the smile beneath the beard, I think the Chassid was also smiling.