On the G Train

I knew it was going to be an interesting trip to the Upper West Side by the way it started. When stepping onto the platform at the Bedford/Nostrand stop (My stop), I saw a Gerber Daisy taped to a paper sign for Cassie P. How sweet is that!



When sitting on the bench waiting for the train, a woman approached me and asked me if I would watch her bag while she jumped down into the tracks to get a piece of paper she dropped. (In order for me to jump down there, it would not have to be a paper I dropped; it would have to be a child who fell that I needed to rescue!)

So she jumps down and couldn’t get back up. I go to her and offer her my hand, (which, of course, is useless, I wouldn’t be able to lift her) when a man steps in and lifts her up. She is safe and has retrieved her very important paper. The man who lifts her up hits her up for a dollar—she gladly gives it to him. Then another man starts talking to her, and they talk until the train comes, and then for several more stops. I think he gets her number.

As for me, I return to the bench, along with 3 other women in their late 30’s to 50’s. We talk about how none of us would have jumped down to the tracks, although two women admit that they have done it themselves in the past when they were young. The talk turns to the neighborhood, child rearing, and how things have changed.

I continue my conversation with one of the women that lasts through several stops and a transfer. I have made a friend in the neighborhood. The young lady who jumped down in the tracks isn’t the only one who exchanged phone numbers yesterday afternoon.