on the 6

every day on the subway i find myself adopting a kind of zen attitude. (it's like a zen thing; it's like, you know, how many...babies fit in the tire.) i guess i'm just not in as big a hurry as some of these people--the people who act like if they don't get down those stairs to the uptown 6 train like NOW they're going to either have a heart attack or stroke or lose their health insurance. i'm sorry, were we being chased by an alien and no one told me? is the train on fire and i just didn't notice? no? well then settle the fuck down. we're all going to get there eventually.

since i'm not in a huge hurry to get around the subway (unless i hear a train coming, in which case it's like "get the fuck outta my WAY, grandma!") i watch all these people running past me, pushing each other, getting pissed off. and yeah, i get jolted around and whatever. but it's still better than fighting elbow-to-chin to get up an empty platform 30 seconds faster.

i write this because i've seen the same pushy latin woman three times now. since i take the exact same train as i did at my temp job, and i've stood in the exact same place on both platforms for a month and a half now, this isn't surprising. but this woman, this crazy 40-something woman with this crazy, hunted look in her eyes (though she's dressed semi-professionally, which i assume means she's a secretary somewhere and not, you know, some kind of tribal warrior) has literally pushed her way to the front of the platform every time i've seen her, and then elbowed her way onto the car before people have gotten off. now, i know that i'm from oklahoma. and i know that i'm a little, um, slower than most people. but it's just courteous to let people get off the train before you try to shove your crazy ass onto it.

anyway, this woman fights her way onto the train and if anyone getting off the train dares to bump into her she shoots them this look that says, ai, mami, you betta fuckin watch where you goin. she's scary but i'm pretty sure i could take her if i had to.

death match on the 6 train.