TRAIN WRECK OF THE WEEK > 'Well-Educated' Snob Is Latest Viral Video Victim: Just Deserts?

by Christine Lusey Posted June 18, 2011 11:00:00

Related Topics: Money, School, Credit, Friends, New York, voice, Race, Target, Time, News, Video, Camera, Internet, Schools, Woman, Let's Move

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	Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her	865 votes	83%
	No, she's been shamed enough, let's move on	183 votes	17%

Welcome to the Internet, Hermon Raju! You might want to avoid public transportation for a while (and you reader, need to watch the video posted below ASAP).

At around 10:00pm on June 14th, Raju, a passenger on the Metro-North train in New York, let loose with a stream of snobbery, elitism and just plain obnoxiousness that is so over-the-top you might think it’s a candid camera prank. Only, it's not.

And the whole Internet knows.

When a conductor allegedly overhears Raju cursing and talking loudly on her cell phone and asks her to stop, Raju begins her defense with, “Do you know what schools I’ve been to and how well-educated I am?”

And it just goes downhill from there. Raju’s voice rises as she yells to the conductor: “I’m sorry – do you think I’m a little hoodlum? Please repeat to me the words I was being profane with.”

The conductor says Raju was lobbing “F-bombs,” which infuriates Raju.

“From my mouth? Excuse me, do you know how well-educated I am?”

All credit to the conductor, who either is blessed with the patience of Job or has plenty of experience dealing with nasty passengers, for refusing to lower herself to engage with Raju at her level. Though Raju loudly demands that the train be stopped and she be refunded her money, according to reports she later exits at her stop without incident.

And you just know Raju went home and told all her equally well-educated friends about how she reprimanded the lowly train conductor who dared to confront her about her behavior.

Raju couldn’t have known then that in just a couple of days millions of other people would be weighing in as well.

Another passenger on the train captured Raju’s rant on a cell phone and posted it to YouTube. Passed between friends and coworkers and posted eighty gazillion times on various blogs and news sites, the 2 ½ minute cringe-worthy video ignited ferocious debates on race, public transportation, New Yorkers in general, elitism, manners and parenting. Though the original YouTube video was removed, it of course was almost immediately reposted.

Within hours, Detective Internet was on the case, and the world learned her name and where she was so well-educated (NYU? Really? Is NYU-elitism a thing?), the apex of just the latest (but certainly not the last) episode of Name and Shame on the Web.

Fox News quotes Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders, who praises the conductor for her “great restraint.”

"We're proud of her behavior," Anders says, “This is an unusual incident. Most of our train rides are extremely uneventful -- and that's just the way we like it."

+14

More: http://gawker.com/5812604/educated-snob-berates-tr...

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2012 rick June 18, 2011 11:17:32

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+14
moderated...
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Ablu June 23, 2011 01:54:49

No, she's been shamed enough, let's move on

+2
I think everyone is being too harsh on the passenger. We don’t know how it started. I mean, it appears to be true from various people’s accounts that the passenger was being loud and using bad words in her cell phone conversation. However, whether or not a situation escalates will also depend how she was first addressed by the conductor at the start – a disrespectful start can easily escalate the situation. From the video, the conductor’s behavior does not inspire much confidence in this regard. Although her (conductor’s) words were polite and in even tone, her body language was disrespectful towards the passenger. For example, in the entire altercation, while the passenger was trying to engage the conductor into a discussion, the conductor did not make eye contact even a single time, a definite personal affront in any culture. (Although most of the time they do, polite and even words do not always mean respect. For example, a police officer may “Step out of the car, Sir!” in a tone that unnecessarily diminishes the driver in front of a driver’s wife and children, or an airport guard at the scanner may say … you get the drift.) Also, the conductor’s later actions belie her seemingly professional behavior when she announced on the speaker about Harvard, Yale, etc. people. Summi...

I think everyone is being too harsh on the passenger. We don’t know how it started. I mean, it appears to be true from various people’s accounts that the passenger was being loud and using bad words in her cell phone conversation. However, whether or not a situation escalates will also depend how she was first addressed by the conductor at the start – a disrespectful start can easily escalate the situation. From the video, the conductor’s behavior does not inspire much confidence in this regard. Although her (conductor’s) words were polite and in even tone, her body language was disrespectful towards the passenger. For example, in the entire altercation, while the passenger was trying to engage the conductor into a discussion, the conductor did not make eye contact even a single time, a definite personal affront in any culture. (Although most of the time they do, polite and even words do not always mean respect. For example, a police officer may “Step out of the car, Sir!” in a tone that unnecessarily diminishes the driver in front of a driver’s wife and children, or an airport guard at the scanner may say … you get the drift.) Also, the conductor’s later actions belie her seemingly professional behavior when she announced on the speaker about Harvard, Yale, etc. people. Summing my thoughts, I think (1) the passenger is being vilified and made fun of too much (she deserves a little but not to the extent I am reading and hearing) and (2) the conductor was not being very polite while ostensibly being polite, and, ultimately, as a professional who deals with all kinds of people everyday, I think it is HER (conductor’s) failure not to have managed the situation and let it escalate.
(more)

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Eric to Ablu July 20, 2011 22:26:21

+2
"Ablu", you're either a friend of the Educated Snob, or the Educated Snob rationalizing her obnoxious behavior under a pseudo-name...either way, your bias towarding this jerk is apparent. I say she gets all the ridicule she deserves; she brought it onto herself!

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Inge June 22, 2011 14:58:31

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

She's well educated, she can cope.

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kiers June 22, 2011 12:56:16

No, she's been shamed enough, let's move on

+1
this is the TRUE purpose of "social media"....the most venal base and petty tendency for ridicule. Another fine use of technology feeding base human(?) drives. The viral mocking is also as cheap as Ms Raju's "highness" because the video doesn't show the prior cause. Gawd, hope Judges and Juries aren't learning from this...."justice" is toast.

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John June 22, 2011 08:51:12

No, she's been shamed enough, let's move on

didn't hear any profanity from Hermon. She was nice. Of course, she shouldn't have bring up her education, especially in a conversation with fat black people. It's much better to show a knowledge of Oprah or 50c. What I see here - two huge black people attacking slim, intellegent and attractive young woman. In turn, she overreactead a little. I know from my personal experience how rassistic fat black people could be - I'm an East-european immigrant. Imagine, what would happened if everyone on earth was like those fatso ? Earth would collapse and became a black hole. And I'm not being sarcastic here - it's a scientific fact

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Bob Bob to John June 22, 2011 09:31:28

+1
Nice trolling. I can tell you can hardly speak English, so I do believe you're some malnourished eastern european who fled tyranny in an attempt to eat something other than snow.

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Eric to John July 20, 2011 22:29:03

+2
John, you're a racist & ignorant douche-bag...& yes, DOUCHE is a French word, I figured you can relate to European culture...

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MAMMY51♥POTL~PWCM~JLA♥ June 21, 2011 00:03:34

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

Her vocabulary indicates a very limited education.

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Dogfather June 20, 2011 18:31:22

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+2
This just goes to show common courtesy isn't included with that education.

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Boss June 20, 2011 18:14:54

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+3
where?? new york??enough said....

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ally June 20, 2011 18:09:27

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+1
It would be the perfect karma if the only job she could get was working on the metro.

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SK~against idiocrisy June 20, 2011 17:57:28

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

Dang it still didn't get to see the vid. Why was it pulled? I don't understand.

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fuzzy Ken "In G-d We Trust" June 20, 2011 17:26:42 (edited)

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+2
Here's another posting:

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whipnet June 20, 2011 17:19:02

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+3
Another uppity foreigner who thinks they are better than Americans.

*

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✩Batman's✩Epic✩Understudy✩ June 20, 2011 17:05:37
Ace June 20, 2011 16:28:40

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+2
Good education does not always equal to good manners or even genuine intelligence.

She should be made an example out of.

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Independent Thinker June 20, 2011 16:02:28

No, she's been shamed enough, let's move on

+1
I did see this video on the second link below (Gawker...not YouTube).

It must have been the end of the day and obviously she is rather stuck on herself and angry for being challenged (e.g. speaking loudly on her phone with 4 letter words). She forgot public conversations (or rants) are public, not private (hence the taping).

Sad to say this type of occurrence is becoming more common everyday and not surprising. This one just happened to get taped and find its way on the web.

Lesson learned (I hope)--time to move on! Her face is now everywhere.. Is she embarrassed? Probably not. She is a picture of today's culture - very uncivil and the attitude "It's all about me" mentality.

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poetdog7 June 20, 2011 15:32:29

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+1
Clearly, this woman feels VERY elite, and VERY high and mighty, as made obvious by all of her "Do you know how educated I am?" remarks. Now while I understand that she made those remarks to defend herself, by trying to explain that she's not like those high school kids on the bus who scream and shout and cause a ruckus, that she's a mature adult (pity, she proved nothing with her bantering), she was still way out of line. Therefore, it is only appropriate that she receives this slew of deserved public humiliation measure for measure, which will no doubt bring her ego down a few notches, back into the realm of us "uneducated" folk.
On another note: Are ALL people from NYU like this?

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Eric Bl... to poetdog7 June 21, 2011 17:53:44

+3
Yes, because it's completely fair to lump together a group of over 40,000 students and 350,000 alumni.

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smitty June 20, 2011 15:14:47

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+2
If you have to tell someone how "elite" you are. The "elite" is then just in your mind.

It is easy to let lose the F bomb. A better soul would contain themselves. Sad...

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Jim June 20, 2011 15:09:42

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+2
Her education can't make up for her lack of common sense and decency.

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Bomb a June 20, 2011 14:07:47

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+3
You need an education to ride a train?

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Danny June 20, 2011 13:38:57

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+1
What was her political slant? Any guesses?

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Flowers June 20, 2011 13:35:53

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+1
I think we ALL would benefit from being a bit more respectful to the people around us. She embarrassed herself by acting like that, and trying to intimidate the conductor with her 'stature' as if that matters. This unfortunately happens WAYYYY too much, and if you have acted like that before, and not gotten caught just remember, the age of technology is a VERY unforgiving foe

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Paxfa Mscipio June 20, 2011 13:23:30

No, she's been shamed enough, let's move on

+1
All I see is another person thinking they are more than they really are, welcome to every day America.

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sue June 20, 2011 09:26:29

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+5
Getting an education doesn't make you smart or decent. If her conversation was indeed "private" as she says, then there would not have been an issue. She was obviously being loud (and an embarrassment to educated people everywhere).

I loved this:
According to the person who filmed this, after the altercation the conductor got on the loudspeaker and reminded everyone to speak softly and not use profanity on the train, "especially those people who went to Harvard or Yale or are from Westport."

Go Metro North conductor!

(And note to self: treat people like everybody's watching!)

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El Prez June 20, 2011 07:53:31

No, she's been shamed enough, let's move on

+3
Let's stop with all the ambush crap. Sometimes people act in ignorant ways, a wellknown fact. Why are the ones "caught in the act" the only ones who get the over kill treatment? If you catch a crime or a fraud, great, turn it in. If you catch someone being an a$$ho;e,show your friends and let it go. Life is too short for this "paparati wanabees" to take over the airwaves.

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BoomLover June 20, 2011 06:30:40

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+2
Well, seems we have a few on here that wish to stand up for this "woman"........and that would be a small minority. I posted earlier, but that seems to have disappeared, such is life....anyone who acts like this displays both Liberal and Democrat tendency's, (IMHO)....can't come up with even one iota of sympathy for her, how ever, the driver was very controlled, a credit to her for showing restraint, when most would have wanted to throw her off the train........

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sue to BoomLover June 20, 2011 13:52:52

+1
I would like you to explain how this is "Liberal" or "Democrat" behavior. In my experience, this kind of behavior happens on both sides of the political divide.

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Myrle Hulme June 20, 2011 05:58:56

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

Now she on SH as well so who was the uneducated jerk definately not the conductor

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The Dude June 20, 2011 05:41:51

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+5
Oh...She deservse it! She deserves it for the rest of her life!!

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BUCCANE... to The Dude June 20, 2011 12:55:19

+2
They usualy enter politics

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alphe512 June 20, 2011 05:38:16

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+3
Must be a republican.

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sue to alphe512 June 20, 2011 13:56:09

+1
I would like you to explain how this is "Republican" behavior. In my experience, this kind of behavior happens on both sides of the political divide. I see others in this page saying that it looks like "Liberal."

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Resp June 20, 2011 04:56:01

No, she's been shamed enough, let's move on

+3
She is obnoxious but well educated? Sounds like an oxymoron.

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Moejj to Resp June 20, 2011 04:57:11

LOL

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La June 20, 2011 04:36:05

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+1
"Detective Internet"

<3

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Calliope~POTL-PWCM~JLA June 20, 2011 03:30:14

Yes, she deserves all the ridicule coming to her

+5
Karma is a real bitch.

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Lanikai to Calliop... June 20, 2011 12:49:33

+4
Dontcha wonder if her boss saw this and what he had to say about it.

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Calliop... to Lanikai June 20, 2011 23:57:22

+2
That would be fitting, my friend.

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