Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

This post is about transportation in NY. Or two of my run-ins with it.

TRAINS
I was on the subway yesterday, going from 125th down to NYU on the 1 and R. The 1 is a slow long trip, and it was a completely crowded train. So I'm standing, squished up, and the man standing right in front of me starts yelling "Who farted, someone farted, fess up, who was it." Honestly, I'm short, and if someone had done any such thing I would be one of the first to know, and it clearly hadn't happened, but that didn't stop this man. He went on for 10 stops, then he switched to the topic of his ex-wife's farts, which he enjoyed a lot. Meanwhile everyone on the train is pretending they hear nothing. That we're not being forced to listen to this crazy man's tirade. It wasn't until he finally left that people started snickering. Very www.overheardinnewyork.com.

PLANES I'm sure you read on the news about the plane crash in Manhattan last week. My friend Dominick is actually out today in 4 person plane, makes me a bit nervous. It was quite crazy, obviously the images were the most frightening part. I was in Family as Educators class, in which we mostly share our family memories and stories. So that class turned September 11th and our memories of that, and from there the Challenger explosion, and disasters in general. Not the uplifting class about our grandparents' childhoods I usually look forward to.

AUTOMOBILES
The other week, coming back from the airport from Florida, I had a fight with my taxi driver. On the way to the airport the fare was $20 plus $4 toll. So I was shocked when on the way back home the fare was reaching the 20s mark and we were somehow on East 96th (I live at West 122nd). So I ask the driver how it was that my trip had doubled in price, and he said he had taken a route because of rush hour. It was midnight and the other 5 cars on the road weren't holding us back. After a bit of discussion, he stopped the meter at $25. Yeay! He even helped me with my bag, so I think he wasn't too upset with me. If Israel has taught me anything, it's that taxi drivers are not gods, even if they think they are.