Oh, the perks of living in New York City. Amazing events, beautiful buildings and wonderful encounters on the daily commute. You know, most of the time. Taking public transportation is a necessity for most here, whether you're a college student or someone traveling between boroughs. It's a great thing that the trains and buses cover a lot of land, making it possible to visit any area and maybe some new people and interesting spectacles as well.
A few weeks ago, I was making my way to the platform of the train when suddenly I heard sobs of pure agony. Walking into a cart I saw a woman on the phone hysterically crying and screaming into a phone. The other people in the cart were sliding their glances all over, trying their absolute hardest to ignore the lady. A few people tried to make an escape but the doors closed at their faces. And so, we were trapped. For the next 30 minutes, everyone in the train cart was given a play by play, granted a one-sided version, of a breakup story.
It was really a sad moment, considering it was 8:30 AM. Every now and again the woman would pull away the phone and scream out in frustration, making me jump in my seat. An elderly lady sitting across from me caught my eye many times, either giving a small smile or shake of her head. 'We are all in this together,' her look seemed to say. Every now and again, the woman on the phone would look around her and make it a point to let her ex-boyfriend Brian know that he was making her look like a total idiot on the train. To which he replied, as he was then put on speakerphone, "you don't need me to do that," followed by a string of profanities. Wide eyes met one another across the train and laughs were stifled into coughs. Not that the situation wasn't a disturbance, but it was much better than a silent ride to a full day of work or school. For a brief moment, the different people on the train were united, all stuck in the same, uncomfortable situation.
Fast forward a couple of days and I am on a bus home. The ride takes no longer than 10 minutes to the train station, on a good day. This particular day was not so good. The bus took 15 minutes to come and the traffic was horrible. There were two different mothers on the bus with their children. The child of the first lady, bored out of her mind as we all were, decided to sing "The Wheels on the Bus."
Considering that the wheels on our particular bus weren't moving, I have to say the song was not in very good taste. However, this third grader must have been very proud of learning the new song because she too, belted the tune, literally screaming it at some points. What was even more surprising was that not a single person cared. Tired looking adults shifted in their seats and craned their necks to look out at the traffic but no one looked around the bus. Some people were smiling while others pulled headphones out to silence the noise. At one point the child of the second lady decided to join in on the fun, creating a duet by the second round. By the time the bus pulled up to my stop, much to my annoyance, I was singing the horrible song under my breath and reminiscing on how much easier the life of a child is.
While I always believed it was wrong to think that crazy encounters on public transportation only happen in New York, a ride to Coney Island with my friend from another state completely changed my mind.
Yesterday, we were making our way to the end of the station so we would have an easier time leaving the station when we reached our stop. It was a quiet time and few people were in the cart we got on to. Three stops forward and a man gets up and started blasting a radio four seats away. As he is adjusting the station, a group of people is exchanging nervous glances.
Once Rihanna's "Work" comes on the man grins hugely and starts entertaining everyone with his crazy dance moves. Crazy-insane, not crazy-cool. My friend is shocked; she is staring at the man like she has never seen anything like this before. I nudge her but she continued to stare. We continued on our way and went back to talking. At one point the man took out a wad of cash and started shoving the money in the faces of all the people on the train. Most people ignored him but a few shoved him back, causing the man to stumble.
Before we reached our stop, the man made a point to show the money as well. My friend could not control her laugh. "Why are people so weird here?" she giggled in my ear. I grimaced. What a welcome to the city. She laughed again. "Must be a New York thing," she said as we left the train with the dancing man calling his goodbyes after us.
