by Lilly S.

Created on: December 09, 2006   Last Updated: May 14, 2007

Subway Diaries : A Three-Day Annotation

Monday : It was 7:30 AM. Mario took a subway ride starting in Brooklyn to take him to Port Authority at 8th Avenue, 42nd Street.

He was clothed with black suit with pastel gray inner shirt. He was neat and immaculately clean. There was no crease in his clothes.

Last night, he painstakingly ironed what he was wearing now. His pair of black shoes was likewise shiny and he wore a matching pair of black socks.

He was scheduled for a job interview at 8:30 AM in a company which is located in a garment district. It would be his first job as he just graduated with a marketing degree from a community college.

He was looking at a piece of paper with questions and answers. He was trying to memorize them by heart. He looked at it, mumbled to himself, and closed his eyes. He repeated his actions a few times. Then he smiled. He was ready and prepared.

Then the subway door opened. He got out feeling confident of himself.

Tuesday: It was 6:45 AM. A matured and grey-haired man named, Rodolfo, entered the Subway 6 coming from 14th street. He was in his fifties. He was to get off at the Grand Central Station as he worked in one of the offices in Lexington Ave.

He was lucky. That morning was not busy and crowded. It was easy for Rodolfo to find a seat closer to the glass window. In his right hand was the daily newspaper which he held tightly. And on the other hand was a coffee he purchased from one subway store owned by a friendly Middle Eastern gentleman.

Every after coffee sip, he flipped other pages to read another news item.

Then the subway car stopped and the door opened.

It was time for Rodolfo to get off. He stood and headed for the door.

As stepped out of the door, he stumbled and fell to the floor. His remaining beverage sprayed on his disheveled shirt.

Then he realized he did not tie his shoelaces. He stepped on one.

Wednesday : It was 7 AM. City employees living from upstate have gotten off from a bus ride in Port Authority Terminal.

They were rushing to go down using escalators. They were to take a subway ride. They did not want to be late to their work.

A throng of people walked very fast towards to the subway 7 where it will take them to either Time Square, Bryant Park, or Grand Central Station.

They saw an empty subway car and rushed to enter before the door closed.

To their dismay, there was a bearded beggar comfortably lying on the long seat. He was sleeping deeply with matching tenor sound of snores.

It was too late to get out. The door closed and the subway car was on its way.

Inside the car, the smell was beyond imagination. It smelt like a stinky burning tire combined with rotten food.

These city workers had to deal with it as they knew the beggar never cleaned nor washed himself. All they could do was to pinch their noses to lessen the odor.

For every subway stop, those who went out heaved a sigh of relief. Their agony ended.

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