As you all know, or have heard, New York is a city that moves by Subway (and buses, taxis, and cars but mostly Subways). After one week of being here, my MTA card is already showing signs of ware; and it's supposed to last a year. Good luck with that. I love the Subway.
The subway here is full of people but no one is talking to each other. This is a thing and technically the unspoken rule is that you don't. But I do sometimes. I spoke to a lady last week about my toe shoes because she saw them and smiled. I spoke to another lady who wanted to know if they were shoes. I met a guy named Michael Gregory who was memorizing a script at 11pm on the platform...how exhausting. I met a young lady from Montreal yesterday who works at a non-profit that funds new artists. I've been told that the city will beat it out of me but I intend to continue speaking to people on the subway. They are all interesting.
Which leads to the next point, crazies. There are crazy people on the subway which contributes to the "No speaking to other people on the subway" rule. There is the man sitting alone who keeps yelling in Spanish in the general direction of everyone as if we had each offended the poor man. There is the young man walking between trains (not allowed! http://www.mta.info/nyct/rules/rules.htm#use) who begins his speech with "As you can see, I'm homeless" and ends it with "Can any of you help me out with some change?" He does not look homeless. He is clean, well clothed, healthy, and would pass as a hipster on any street in the city. There is the actual homeless man who is walking between cars asking for money whom everyone looks towards briefly and nods their head "no" before looking quickly away. It is odd to be asked for money on the street. It is a bit more awkward to be asked for money when you cannot escape because you are on a train moving faster than 30mph.
The subway is full of languages because people do talk to each other if they are riding the train together on purpose. On Friday my car had a few girls talking to each other in Spanish and a group of people speaking in Korean. In the evening two girls were speaking an African language I did not recognize. It is interesting to hear the dialogue and know what is being said without knowing the language. Tone and facial expressions say a lot.
I spend a lot of time waiting for trains. Always looking down the track into the black hole at the end. There is a lot of anticipation and excitement about an arriving train. You stand in complete silence (because no one is talking to each other). Everyone stares down the tunnel or meanders around. Then you hear a rumble coming out of the blackness and see a faint light.
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| Flushing Ave Station; my home stop. |
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| The M is finally here! Love that M. Takes me to Flushing Ave. |
