She tricked me once into thinking she was leaving at the next stop and made me think I was going to get a seat. So when she got off many stops later I made sure to take her seat out of sheer spite. In the interim stops I looked at her occasionally and thought that…
Category: Subway Inspirations
People watching on the subway
Diagonal Line
He has has a golden patch of hair right at the top of his hair in the middle of a wave of medium to dark brown hair. It is hard to tell if it is from too much time in the sun or fading color. A work ID is clipped to his pants over his…
Books on the Train
This is the second time I have seen someone reading a book I have read before this week. Yesterday morning a woman was reading The History of the World in 10 1/2 Short Chapters – I have only read the first chapter of that book, but that was the best one according to my father….
Disengaged
Staring straight ahead, the subway rider is completely disengaged from the conversation happening next to her. Her companion to her left is completely animated, gesticulating when she talks, while their male companion nods along with a small smile. Her hair is up in a ponytail that is half pulled through its black hair tie into…
Interlocking
Fitbit on one wrist, a black hair tie around the other, she is ready for the day. She scratches her scalp with two painted nails before tightly interlocking them on her lap, but only for a few moments. She separates them and rests the right hand on top of the left. Then rubs at her…
Omphalophobia
Bellybuttons freak me out and the girl standing across from me is unconsciously using the pole to play peekaboo with hers. It is not a full innie nor a full outie. Instead it looks like her bellybutton is trying to push itself out of her body. A small, fleshy nub nestled just inside the rim of the…
Quick Nap
Her nails are long and she scratches the side of her face with her middle finger. She is wearing a knee length dress that has ridden up to mid-thigh because she is sitting down. It has a black collar and hemline, but in between is pink designs on white with black dots. She has a…
Snake Skin
Her sandals are snake skin – real or fake I can’t tell – but they remind me of my father’s snake skin cowboy boots and rattlesnakes. She is wearing black pants that rise up just above the ball of her ankle. They are high-waisted and she has a black shirt on as well. Over that…
Night vs Day
The train at night is different. The exhaustion is different. In the morning it’s a cranky uncaffeinated bone deep tiredness. At 8:45 pm it’s the soul sucking despondency of having survived another day in a city that is eating at your soul while still dazzling and delighting you. It’s mostly empty and there are wide…
Badass
My first thought upon seeing her is: badass. Her hair is buzzed short and bleached blond, one shade below white blond. Her headphones curl around the backs of her ears like secret service ear wigs and her makeup is simple and artistic. She does not look like a flawless doll, but her eyebrows are dark…
Little Gentian 