a morning commute
my kindle died, and i completed all my NYT games in the morning. as a hyperaware commuter, here are snippets of conversations i had with myself this morning:
- another staircase at my subway stop opened up only for another one to close down lol we love construction. when will construction cease? probably never.
- queensboro plaza is one of the only places (if not the only place) where a numbered train shares a platform with a lettered train. i later found out this is due to dual contracts between the BRT and IRT prior to the MTA consolidation.
- the f train runs through a plethora of local stops in manhattan and brooklyn, yet is express in queens. it runs through many of the neighborhoods i find myself in, and more i wish to explore in more depth.
- the m train traverses from queens to brooklyn via manhattan in a visually inefficient manner. most cross borough journeys via subway only require trip into/from manahattan. hub and spoke. point to point. some aribtrary mix of both. i wonder how the subway system would be different if it were designed from the ground up today.
- a portion of my journey, i sat across from what i can only assume is a couple. during this time of day, the typical subway goers are employees, students, and the occasional tourist group. ordinarily the only vocals i hear are from my airpods or the train announcer. today the duo were belting their hearts out, hitting dance moves, just vibing. dressed in matching outfits, they clearly were having a good time without a care in the world. im curious what they were listening to. they made me smile.
- every time i walk to work there is a shoe shiner. sometimes he has several clients. most times he doesnt. with so much foot traffic in front of him, i wonder how many people stop in front of him. he also has a small stand with several products and ads of service in what i can only assume is a brick and mortar store elsewhere. can he resole my chipped thursday boots?
- occasionally there is a public piano set out. though its more common in the afternoon, this morning it sat there empty begging someone to stop. i wonder if i will ever gain enough courage to just sit down and play for a bit. will my palms be sweaty? will i even remember the notes?
- the average dress near my companys nyc office vastly exceeds the other offices as well as those of my former employers. someone of my friends have noticed that my warddrobe looks vastly different than in college. gone are the free company t shirts.