12 Hours, 2 Completely Different Subway Experiences

These two situations happened within almost 12 hours of one another.

Wednesday, July 30, around 8:30 PM
After working late, I headed downtown to the Kmart on 34th Street to pick up some paint to complete the hell that has been my apartment construction project. I got to Kmart and found out that they no longer sell Martha Stewart paint (why the hell not I ask?!), so I wandered around the store for a little bit, checking out the offerings. I never go to big box retailers and am always so impressed by the wide range of product offerings. Backpacks! Hair gel! Oreos! Bookshelves! Motor oil! Jump ropes! And so on into infinity it seems. During my trek around the store I managed to pick up plastic cups for my birthday party, a shower curtain liner, two washcloths, Kleenex and--the coup de grace of my shopping trip--a six pack of grape Crush soda in glass bottles, just like from my childhood! I was so psyched to see it there in the store that I had to buy some. I paid for my purchases and carried my soda to the subway, where I got onto an uptown 3. A woman sat down next to me and said, "Oh my God! Where did you get that?" while pointing at my grape Crush. We proceeded to have a relatively long subway conversation about grape Crush, how you never see it anymore, the fact that there's a Kmart in the city, how just seeing it evokes memories and saliva at the thought of the taste. We wrapped up our conversation and before she got off, I offered her a bottle of soda, which she took with glee. What a good subway ride!

Thursday, July 31, around 9:30 AM
I was headed to midtown for a meeting with one of the companies I work with and got on the downtown 1 at 116th. I positioned myself on the platform at the last car of the train so I would be in the right place to get out at 42nd Street. The train pulled up and I entered the car to find at least 25 five year olds in matching summer camp t-shirts practically hanging from the rafters. I shuffled through them to the middle of the car where there was some space to stand, right in front of five little boys. Two of them were shoving and hitting each other; clearly the one did not like the other touching him, but there was no room for the other kid to move. I would have felt some sympathy for the unwanted kid, except he kept dropping his bag or his lunch box on my feet because he couldn't quite seem to get them both in his chubby little hands at the same time. As the fighting continued I gave them a disapproving look and the unwanted boy said to the others around him: "This lady is bothering me." He then proceeded to actually KICK me! I hadn't said one word the entire (millennium-long) ride from 116th to 96th, so I can't imagine why he felt the need to do that. I leaned over as we pulled into 96th Street and said "Do NOT kick people." He smirked and I made my way to the door in the hopes of catching a kid-free express across the platform only to realize that the kids were doing the same! I let them get off the local and I got back on, thankful they were gone. What a bad subway ride!

(Yes, I am aware that I got into a fight with a 5 year old. No, I do not think less of myself for this, but I did have to laugh at myself later, much like you are probably doing right now.)

Despite how it may seem, I still love public transport.