Subway Memories

Christoph Niemann did an interesting piece in the NY Times awhile back. He illustrated his life with the subway as his instrument...his children "see everything through a subway lens. When they fight about who gets which cup for their apple juice, they don’t refer to them by color...I don't want the 1,2,3 I want the N, R, W, Q."

The first time in my life I got on a New York Subway, I was a terribly, mixed-up disaster. I was actually on the last car on the 1 and tried to go to South Ferry. But everyone that lives there knows, the last five subway cars don't open up at that stop (they will someday, I think there are plans to extend the platform). Anyhow, I remember sailing past that stop, so confused, wondering where I went wrong. It didn't take long before I was confidently rocking back and forth, trying to prevent people from making the same mistake I did.

The subways were an easy friend. Once in awhile they would let you down. For example, in the middle of the Summer you would hurry to an empty car thinking that you hit the jackpot. But the moment you felt the heat sweltering, you realized that the a/c was out, making it a trap of heat, smells and moisture. It only took another stop before you crowded onto the other car, watching the same ritual happen with another unsuspecting traveler.

James became one of the regulars. He could direct any traveler anywhere; a four year old helping people avoid this line and reminding them to transfer here. He could even hear the difference certain trains made, "Mom, this A sounds like a W." When we got off, I looked back, and sure enough, the W had been running on the A line for some reason or another."

I have been doing a lot of thinking about Manhattan and incidentally, the friend who directed me to this article. The cartoons are pretty hysterical, but there is more to it. There is truth to the idea that we use the things that surround us to define us; our lens by circumstance, not choice. I hope I can carefully choose the glasses I wear because they are the ones my children look through as well. I think that for now, I might be their lens. And I want them to see a bright shiny future full of hope and possibility for what they can bring to the world.