Overview

Shaving New Jersey Transit Man refers to a viral video of Anthony Torres, a 56 year-old man seen shaving on New Jersey Transit. After the video was posted, it became the target of mockery for what was seen as a gross faux pas of transit etiquette. However, after going viral, it was revealed that Torres had spent the previous few days in a homeless shelter and was shaving on the train to appear presentable. This led to conversations about the ethics of filming strangers without their consent and judging others before knowing their story.

Background

On September 13th, 2018, Twitter user @pbenti007^[1] tweeted a video of Torres shaving on New Jersey Transit with the caption, "Welcome to NJ TRANSIT!!!" The tweet has since been deleted, but reportedly had over 2.4 million views by the time it was deleted.^[2] (YouTube repost shown below). Another video showed him ordering a beer.

Developments

After the video was posted, Torres was mocked for shaving on public transit. The New York Post^[1] called it "the grosses thing to happen on anyone's commute." Other Twitter users marveled at the act. Twitter user @NeverMoreXBT tweeted his admiration at the man's dexterity, gaining over 150 likes (shown below, left). User @JillMalandrino tweeted her disgust at the idea, gaining over 70 likes (shown below, right).

On September 17th, 2018, the Associated Press^[2] published a story with the shaving man, where it was revealed his name was Anthony Torres and that he had spent the previous several days in a homeless shelter and was shaving on the train to appear "presentable." He apparently was on his way to his brother's to ask for a sleeping bag so he could sleep under a bridge. “My life is all screwed up. That’s the reason I was shaving on the train,” Torres said.

The revelation led to a conversation on Twitter about filming strangers without their consent and judging people. User @feministabulous tweeted "stop filming people you don't know," gaining over 540 retweets and 2,200 likes (shown below, left). New York Times columnist Maggie Haberman tweeted, "You never know what someone else is going through. This is a sad story about a guy who became the butt of social media jokes" (shown below, right).

Twitter user @JordanUhl set up a GoFundMe^[3] for Torres "to help him get back on his feet" with a $15,000 goal. As of September 18th, 2018, the GoFundMe has over $10,000 pledged.

Search Interest

External References