Subway Rider Posts Amazing Response To 'Workaholic' Shaming

Shaming people on the Internet may be the latest trend among avid social media users, but misreading the web's sense of right and wrong can quickly turn the "shamer," into the "shamee."

That's what happened when Reddit user GundamCheerios posted a picture to the social sharing site Tuesday of a commuter sitting on the floor of the New York City subway working on his laptop. The photo's caption read: "Being a workaholic is no excuse for being an asshole. Spotted on the crowded 1 train this morning."

Here's the photo in question:

The post was not well-received. One Redditor claimed that GundamCheerios was the "asshole," since the "train isn't that crowded."

Things got more embarrassing for the Redditor when the subject of the photo, El-ad David Amir, posted a response under the user name dtelad11 and was super nice about the whole thing.

Here's an excerpt from Amir's response:

Hey, that's me!! Didn't notice you're [sic] snapping this, I would have waved in order to get a more flattering photo. My front looks less bald than my top, honest!

Some background: I'm wrapping up my PhD thesis. In parallel, I started a new job, my wife went back to school, and we have a new baby (second kid). My wife and I generally sleep 3-4 hours on a good night. Rest of the time is work, work, work, weekends included, with the exception of one free weeknight a week each of us gets in order to preserve some meager amount of sanity.

This means I could either get some work done on the subway or reduce the aforementioned amount of sleep even further...

Anyhow, have a good day and I hope poor sods such as myself will be your greatest sources of consternation in life.

“It’s pretty hilarious," Amir, who became aware of the Reddit post after a friend emailed it to him, told HuffPost in a phone call. "The person was really irritated by the situation... I felt like telling my side of the story would be interesting."

Apparently, GundamCheerios later felt guilty about the post. "Sorry for taking a picture, and I guess subsequently posting it here, but it looked pretty funny from my view," the user, whose account now appears to be deleted, wrote in the Reddit comments.

HuffPost also contacted GundamCheerios via Reddit but did not receive a response.

Hat tip: Gawker.