Commuting from Fordham's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx to downtown Manhattan for my summer internship has already afforded me the opportunity to corroborate one of my long-time theories about the New York City subway system. This theory may seem a bit outlandish and might only apply to me but here it is: the subway is a zoo where each and every person is simultaneously a spectator and part of the exhibit. Make sense? I'd assume not, so let me explain.
From the moment I descend the subway steps onto the platform, I begin to look around at people while I catch people looking at myself and others. Unlike walking on street level where you only get to take a short glance at people walking by, on the subway there is ample time to get a good look at all the people in your close vicinity. This unnerving atmosphere of people trying to sneak a look and make a quick judgement about you simultaneously forces you to dart your eyes around the platform as well.
Oh, and here's the catch: you can't let other people find you looking at them or else awkward eye contact will be had the whole rest of the time you have sight of that other person. There's nothing worse than making eye contact with someone right when you get on the subway and then ending up traveling forty minutes together. After the first time, you can't help checking in to see if they're still looking at you too. It's a mess.
Alright, so here's where the zoo comes in. In a subway car, I am like a spectator and all of the other people in the car are part of a specific exhibit. As the train goes from station to station, people come on and off the train. This is like walking around a zoo and seeing different exhibits of people over the course of the trip. While I am on the train, I observe what is going on within the exhibit; what do the animals look like? Are they making noise? Do some tend to look over at you more often than others?
However, there is a flip side to all of this. While in my own head I am the spectator and everyone else is part of the exhibit, to another person, they are spectating and I am part of the zoo. It's quite the conundrum. Even though I'm looking around at everyone else, someone could be watching me at the same time. Therefore, each person almost has their own zoo that they watch over.
Another intriguing aspect of being on the subway that can be related to a zoo is how people act when they are forced to be in close proximity with strangers. Although the subway wouldn't strike someone as a place where emotions run high, the actions people perform astonish me at times. While some people are extremely talkative and engaging, others will give you dirty looks even if you hold on to the same rail as them. Similarities can be drawn for animals as well; some animals are very territorial and guarded while others are more excitable.
In terms of my theory, I haven't exactly posited if I think the subway is a zoo because I travel during the two rush hours of the day or if the subway actually brings out animal-like qualities in people. The more likely scenario: I'm usually on the subway when I'm on five hours of sleep or after a nine hour work day so it's perfectly possible that I look the most like a wild animal out of anyone.
