So here I am on the Number 6 at 4: a.m. on a Saturday, headed downtown to an early job.
One can’t help but be impressed by the New York City subway system, even when it misbehaves, being the Concorde of public transportation.
Packed at all hours, day and night, gives it a Vegas feel as if all clocks stop once you’re underground.
My car is flush with an assortment of folk fresh from a festive Friday night, attire, a second ago so chic, now garish in the harsh, overhead light.
Cleavage yawns beneath tube tops and camisoles.
I watch a lovely Latina reinstall a false eyelash while her man naps across her lap.
A lad of 20 with what looks to be, Michael the Archangel, stenciled on his forearm, sings softly to himself.
I daydream despite the chatter remembering what it was like being that young, when a plus-sized gal plops next to me, pinning my arm against her plump, spandexed hip.
As I try breaking free, she gives me her best…you gotta problem…look, I at once counter with my own well honed, no, do you?
It’s kind of like a traveling circus. A sideshow tossed in with your fare.
One couple smooching, another arguing…a Pug, like a Jack-In-The-Box, pops his head out of a gym bag.
But I’ve saved the best for last, when a Latino family gets on, the dad holding a bouncy baby, the mom, the hand of a little senorita with daisies plaited through her hair.
By the looks of them, you’d never guess the hour, their smiles lighting up the car like Spanish sunbeams.
It was then I noticed Gramma propped in the corner with a gigantic Snoopy under her arm she’s hugging as if they’re lovers.
As I get off at Spring, smiling at my seat mate knowing, she nor anyone else will remember the likes of me, but I on the other hand, in great detail, shall remember, the likes of them.
🙂
SB
Remember indeed. Remember and recite for the rest of us to enjoy. Nicely done, Susannah.
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There is so much to observe one can write about. The colors of Manhattan.
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Forgot to say thanks. 🙂
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😎👍
~Hal Rubenstein From my iPhone
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Hi Kate, I mean Hal. Kinda sounds like you’re a cross dresser, but don’t worry, your friends know the truth. All anyone ever has to do is ask Millie. 🙂
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Paying attention is one of the funnest things you can do in public. This week I have been a poor watcher. Everyone and everything has irritated me. I still scream at myself “All is perfect!” and I still believe it, but my nerves are frayed, so I am irritated. Seems to have mostly passed today.
Very nice post.
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You should take notes, irritated or not. They might come in handy. 🙂
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Agreed…
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I love your observations about people around you.
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Thanks Anne. I appreciate you saying that.
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You could write whole books peopled just with the people you see on a subway. You write them all so vividly too, it’s like I’m there too. I’ll start riding the bus here to work soon. We’ll see if the Erie populace is as colorful. 🙂
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Is there much night life in Erie? I always like to see what people have on, amazed quite often. Half dressed, baring skin like wild animals completely unabashed. I’m from Connecticut. We only show our bodies in pre or post-op. Thanks for reading my daydream. 🙂
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NYC has to be a gold mine for people watching!
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Voyeurism resides in the Big Apple.
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Voyeurism resides in the Big Apple, for sure Frank. You don’t even need a telescope. It’s always right there, that sideshow, up, close, and personal.
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4 am? Bloody hell… Amazing you can actually focus enough to pay attention to your surroundings! However, lucky for us that you can!
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Actually, l try getting up at 4 everyday, but I was already in play on Saturday at that time. Like I was shot out of a cannon. Life on the train is a guaranteed wake-me-up. The city, as they say, never sleeps. Thanks for reading. 🙂
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Lawsy… I am deep in sleep (unless I got woken up and then can’t fall back) at that time. Yowza.
That is what they say and what you share with us!
You bet. I only read the good stuff. 🙂
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I’m like a Navy Seal of my own making.
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Seriously!
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I wake up naturally at 4:30, but I don’t want to be on a subway at 4:00. Holy Moley! And if I was, I doubt I’d observe anything. It’s funny that most of the riders were heading home as you’re heading out. Those 4:00 am trips home are a great memory, well, the majority of them anyway.
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While I’d be helping myself to pancakes, they’d be just drifting off. I’m lucky to be an early riser, since, I’m usually up by then anyway.
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You wield a beautiful pen, Miss Thin Girl. And thank goodness you hail from NYC and not Fargo. I mean, nothing against Fargo but I think you just described a year’s worth of activity there in one subway car ride.
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Was a good movie, and I’ll bet they have characters there too, just of a different sort.
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I’ve seen that movie countless times. It’s the cinematic equivalent of the book Life of Pi for me.
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They make good films, those nutty brothers Oh Brother Where Art Thou my favorite.
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That’s a good one.
The Big Lebowski was it for me- with No Country for Old Men a close second. But anything with Jeff Bridges is right up my alley.
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Did ya see him in Seabiscuit? He really nailed the man he played. Or how bout The Fabulous Baker Boys when he goes to pick up his dog at the vet, and the schmuck at the desk gives him a hard time, so he jumps behind it and says…GIVE ME MY DOG. OOH.
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Yes to all of it. He has never failed to hit a home run.
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Tucker? The first film Coppola made after his son, who he dedicates to, died in a boating accident. It said…FOR GIO, WHO LOVED CARS. It’s interesting what one remembers. sigh
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Fearless, a film most people forget because it did nothing at the box office. But man, what a performance.
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Didn’t see that.
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Bridges rocked it. As per.
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I’ll bet.
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