Hey Numbnuts, It’s fucking rude and annoying to stand directly in front of an opening subway door while on the platform for many reasons. Firstly, you are deliberately cutting in front of the people who are following etiquette and standing slightly to the side. Secondly, you are blocking the train passengers from being able to…
Tag: people watching
Coffee and Knees
She put her empty deli coffee cup into her bag, a few napkins stuffed into the opening to prevent the one or two drops of precious caffeine that even the most experienced and addicted of coffee drinkers cannot shake from the cup. The bag is a monster of a leather purse that takes up almost…
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…
To the Two Young Women on My Train
To the Two Young Women on My Train, First I would like to apologize for eavesdropping on your conversation and inserting myself into it later, I know it is not polite to do either of those things. Second, I want to thank you. Thank you for giving me hope that I am not the only…
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…
Fan
He is fanning himself with one of those cheap Japanese fans. It has a black plastic frame and stiff black fabric with white flowers printed on it. He is fanning himself at a pace perhaps two notches below “furiously.” His face is illuminated by the iPad in his lap, small beads of perspiration shining underneath…
Observation Found in Ovid
Grey t-shirt, hands tucked into loose shorts, a backpack between his shins. He has strong legs. Tight calves, his weight balanced on the balls of his feet ready to spring. Dark close cut hair and impenetrable shades blocking his eyes from sight.
Little Gentian 