Subway Stories: Missed my stop

You know that feeling when you’re in a bus or on the subway (or MRT or LRT, as the case may be) and you sort of “drift off” and suddenly find yourself missing your stop?  I missed Houston and realized it as the train doors were closing.  Got off two stops after at Chamber Street and here I am waiting for the uptown train that will take me to where I’m going.

Not good.  It does happen.  Getting lost in this labyrinth of a system is normal, even for a 12-year-New Yorker like myself.

Train is here…

The car is almost empty.  A homeless man is taking a nap with his treasures not too far away. 

 Now if only these three women would stop screaming over the din of the screeching of the train tracks….

I’m happy sitting here in my quiet corner.

Houston’s next.  (Pronounced HOUSE-TON)  Leaving the screaming behind.. finally.

Coins in the subway tracks

I rushed out of the office at 5:30 with all my gear in tow, raring to get home to prepare dinner.  I had to stop by the grocery to pick up some green onions and dessert for dinner plus milk and bread for everyone during the weekend.  I skipped the first express subway train that hit the station because it was packed full.  The next train took a while to come and I found myself staring at the tracks.

It was dirty with mud and all the grime of elevated train tracks — there was still sufficient daylight for me to see so many coins embedded on the mud  although I couldn’t make out which ones were quarters or dimes and nickels and which ones were pennies.  But there were a lot of them in a uniform copper tone.  Round treasures hidden in the grime.  I bet you if we sifted the muck and got all those coins, we’d come up with a hefty bag of goodies.

Subway Stories: Lady by the Door

 

Picture taken April 17, 2006

 

I take the 7 Train from the Flushing tip of the trip every morning, and while I usually wait for the Express Train that empties into the station so I can (literally) grab a seat, there are days when I don’t have the luxury of time and I just hop onto the train even if it means standing up all throughout the trip.

Monday was one of those days — and I positioned myself at the end of the cabin, leaning against the conductor’s door.  It helps to be leaning against something instead of hanging on to the railing while negotiating the trip to Queens Plaza North.

I was busy playing Tetris on my phone but I saw this young lady looking so forlorn on a Monday morning, staring dreamily into nothingness.. I wonder what she was thinking about on that bright Monday morning.. it seemed to me then that the sunshine was lost on her.

Subway Stories: Little Feet

 

 

Subway Stories

The Subway system of New York is how everyone gets around in the city.  Driving is only for those who have the luxury of time, and here in New York, everyone’s in a hurry.  So no, it’s not that New Yorkers are rude.  It’s just that we are used to a faster pace of life.  We walk briskly and breeze nonchallantly by — but here you will here “How are you doing?” as everyone’s standard “Hi..”

There are many interesting stories I see everyday while I ride on the subway.  I’ve been meaning to start a new category and chronicle anecdotes and obervations here, but I keep forgetting to do it because of the hundred and one things I want to immortalize in cyberspace (like getting my gourmet tuyo, etc.)  Finally, it’s here.  See you on the 7 train, or the QM1A Express Bus to Glen Oaks.