Subway Symphony

I had a meeting in Manhattan this morning and that afforded me a rare day of work in the City. Like a regular commuter, I got onto the subway and rode downtown. I used to do this everyday and became so accustomed to the surplus of humanity crammed in a subway car that I never blinked twice as I insinuated my body between other commuters clutching the poles to keep from falling. It initially struck me odd to be standing arm to arm, thigh to thigh and ass to ass with perfect strangers. I started to take it in. It's school season now so the kids congregated in large packs, like wolves, in strategic corners of the train and in the doorways, preventing the natural flow of entering and exiting. There was the train entertainment entrepreneur who wanted to share his love of gospel music and thanks so much if you can spare some change. People folding their New York Times with precise quarter folds to allow them to read the pages without extending their arms to fold each page. Fatigued and careworn faces, preparing to take on yet another day of labor. A whole melange of race and age and nationality in one subway car. Oh, and the odd German tourist family gazing with concentration at the posted transit map, clearly concerned that they have missed the stop for Times Square. It's really quite a beautiful thing.

Aw, I still appreciate Elaine's take on the subway experience.