Strangers on the train
I had a funny experience last night. I went directly from work to the Target up in Riverdale in the South Bronx, so I was on the 1 for awhile. During this heat, it seems every 1 car I've entered has been very hot, so I figured none of the 1 cars were air-conditioned (unlike, say, the wonderful cars on the 6). I entered the system at 50th Street, found a seat and immediately engrossed myself in cellphone Monopoly. After awhile I was really quite hot, sweating through my dress. Somewhere in Upper Manhattan, a guy enters the car and starts mouthing off to the rest of us. He says "I'm going to SAY something and I'm not going to STOP until this car reaches the next station..." (I immediately think he's either going to preach or hound us for money--is it me or have the train panhandlers gotten much worse?) "...WHY the HELL would you stay here in this HOT car, when you could go to the NEXT one which is 10-15 degrees COOLER? That's what I'M going to do--" Without missing a beat, the tall, skinny black guy next to me (who was also engrossed in his cell phone game) said "Want a medal?" The berater scuttled away and the rest of us in the car started laughing. I said "WHY the HELL would you go INTO a car and start INSULTING people you don't even KNOW?" I complimented the guy on his wit and we started talking about cellphone Monopoly--he asked how much it was and I didn't remember but I said I was cheap so it probably wasn't more than $6-7. I said it was completely addictive.
Nice when strangers can laugh in this weather!
Nice when strangers can laugh in this weather!