Non-New Yorkers may think it is something that only people who have to take it endure … that it is unpleasant to take the subway.

Mostly I find it’s the opposite.

I thought about this while taking the L train from Brooklyn to Manhattan yesterday.

The subways are often not that crowded. I tend to be in a thoughtful mood (all of this is true of the buses, as well); enjoy the people, who by a large majority are polite and usually pleasing in appearance.

There are always a lot of young people, by which I mean mostly 20s and 30s. A large number of them are reading their cell phones or engaged in lively conversations. Some are reading books in which they usually seem engrossed.

I often catch up on the news on my phone or on Facebook posts.

And, sometimes I am lost in thought. The subway is peaceful enough to permit this.

I don’t have to worry going home if I have had a couple of beers, and I don’t have to deal with driving.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   April 19, 2023