Saturday, June 30, 2007

The New York Subway

I've always loved mass transportation systems. There is something that is wonderful about a whole bunch of strangers being squashed into a smaller physical proximity than they have shared with their family and close friends. At one point I got deep enough into one tunnel that all you could smell was hot garbage. Anyway, two highlights made riding the subway an even more joyous experience that it already would have been.

Highlight #1 - Crazies
There are plenty of insane people in the world, but the number of those seems to double when you are in a big city and triple if you are riding public transit (and multiply exponentially if you are a missionary). I got on my normal subway stop for the morning and was standing next to this disturbed man who was loudly using profanity in extremely creative ways. At the end of a minute or two he would stop and yell "Next question!" and then proceed with what was apparently a very vulgar interview with himself. A few stops down the line a woman with the biggest hair I have ever seen in my life got on and stood at the other side of me. Keep in mind I have lived a substantial amount of time in two of the big hair capitols of the world--Utah and Detroit--if anyone knows big hair, it is me. Anyway, this woman starting singing to herself in a very high-pitched crazy voice. At one point the two realized that the other one existed (which is strange because they didn't seem to know that anyone else was in the traincar) and they started interacting with each other. It was hilarious to be in the middle of this conversation even though I cannot really describe anything that was said.

Highlight #2 - Advertisments
I got on the subway on a different morning and found a usual standing spot. After getting settled I looked up and saw this sign:


It was a breath of fresh air from the usual "Get Tested!" and "Do you have Chlamydia?" ads I normally saw. Apparently this company has gotten some grief for their shocking marketing campaigns, but for someone who loves scandal (aka me) I thought it was wonderful.

2 comments:

SD and EJ said...

I love crazy people and I'm pretty sure that in the last week I've become a fan of Paris Hilton. But give me a week...it might pass.

Melanie said...

In Boston, there is this crazy homeless guy that walks along the Freedom Trail singing, "Shake, Rattle, & Roll." I have seen him on no less than 10 different occasions. Really.