Fading hate...

The "LOVE" that adorned his other knuckles was even fainter. He must have punched most of his way through life with his right fist.
There isn't much fire left in him these days. How old is he? Hard to tell if it's 40 or 65.
This is not normally the type of shot I would go for. I don't find anything even remotely romantic about addiction, social destitution and "marginal" lifestyles when they are not a personal choice but a fatality.
As a younger Raheny Eye, I thoroughly enjoyed films such as Raining Stones but now I am old enough to realise that there is a lot of self-delusion on the part of the director, especially in the way he portrays his characters. There is nothing romantic or touching or edifying about poverty, lack of education and alcoholism. Raining Stones is just middle-class voyeurism.
And yet here I am, posting a blip of a prematurely aged guy with no teeth and an obvious alcohol problem.
Because I like to take photos of all sorts of people on the train.
Because he owed me a slight favour: I managed to understand that he had fallen asleep on the train and confirmed the direction we were travelling in and the next station.
Because I liked the idea of the fading hate.
Because I was delighted not to be scared of him, in the knowledge that 10 years ago I would have been very uneasy instead...
Because I remembered to ask permission and he seemed happy to oblige.