In intense boredom, I made the decision to describe yesterday’s subway ride.
I’m always half awake in the mornings when I’m on the way to work (although I’m a morning person). I reminisce about how comfortable my bed felt, especially since it’s getting colder. Despite of slipping in and out of my caffeinated consciousness I insist on reading while on the train. Today, I decided to take a break from re-reading The Catcher in the Rye (I remember my teacher suggested that when we were older we should revisit this book) and Holden Caulfield’s adventures by viewing my surroundings.
Today was one of those mornings that I decided to do more than just the Jeans and T-Shirt. I would have to say these are the more intriguing mornings. People are more curious and actually look at me. I stare back and I always smile which is entertaining because if you know NYC: hardly anyone smiles in the mornings on the way to work. My hair is curled, I wear my red jacket and for some reason I braved heels. It takes longer than usual to get ready on those mornings, that’s why they are not done often. I’m pretty sure most women feel the way that I did when they take that extra time to put on something unexpected – like makeup.
I’m paying attention to the sounds within the train. They sound pretty much the same – abit hallow (the going through the tunnel sound) with a random soundtrack from a rider that I can hear near me. The rider is sitting. It’s a bit annoying to me now, more-so than when I was reading my book – I can zone people out easily now (it wasn’t that easy when I first moved to NYC). I think the soundtrack is playing some sort of salsa music but it just sounds like buzzing to me since I can’t decipher the words.
A guy with locks keeps staring at me. I avoid eye contact and looked back at the page that I was reading. I try to imagine what these are like without the conversation – fortunately I don’t date random guys that I meet in the train. The guy next to me has an interesting tattoo that distracted me for a second so I looked up again. I wondered what type of job he had then quickly lost interest. I starred randomly at other people trying to figure out their story.
Again, I quickly got bored. This time, I am starring through the window. I see the lights in the tunnel flickering on and off as another train rides alongside us then disappears quickly heading a story beneath us. I caught a glimpse of a guy starring at me through the reflection in the window from the other side. He got up to sit in an empty seat next to me, we made eye contact for a brief moment and he seemed like he wanted to chat. I turned away and I focused on my personal space. It takes a few more minutes of humming loudly until the train pulls into a stop and the door opens. Two dings ring and the door closes.
A seat was empty so I took it relieving myself from the awkward balance I had with my bags and heels – I am all sorts of classy. I stared at new people and reminded myself they are easily replaced each time the door opened so I decided to not make friends today (besides, who would want to talk to a stranger this early anyway?). I wished that my iPod was easily in reach but I had forgotten which bag it was in (I had two) so I reopened the book. The stops got shorter so I knew it was getting closer to the one that I needed to get off – as I got up from my seat, I briefly wondered who would replace me.
