humanity, it is good
so, today i wore stupid pinchy flats that are supposed to make walking and being chic easier, but really do not.
i haven't slept well in weeks.
my alarm went off at 5:45am, which is just stupid.
it is 90 degrees in new york city.
it is 1,290 degrees in new york city's subway system.
these factors alone are usually enough to make me want to give up on civilized life. but apparently the gods are testing me, because after walking from a meeting on ninth avenue this morning in a suit in the 90 degree heat in my stupid pinchy shoes and sleepy and cranky and limping down to the seventh circle of hell that is the subway platform, i swipe my card to get slapped with a beep and this kind message:
INSUFFICIENT FARE
now, mind you, this greeting is usually met with a sigh, a digging for $2 or, if i'm lucky, my next-month's card. today i had no spare card, and though i had a few bucks on me it didn't matter, because i was in one of those stupid metrocard-entry only entries with no kiosk, and after staring up at the heat-blurred staircase back up to the street i think i really might have been on the brink of grabbing the third rail had i actually GOTTEN onto the platform, when a generous soul came by to restore my faith in humanity.
me, looking around, helplessly svitzing all over the place and trying my card again as people exiting the station eye me suspiciously: "fuck!"
kind black woman in capris with blue leather purse (i won't forget you!): "you need a ride? here."
and she digs into her bag and swipes me in with her unlimited card. beep! GO.
kind woman in capris, thank you. i hope the spirits reward you with handsome young bucks feeding you bonbons and fanning you with peacock feathers. or, you know, whatever your heart desires. here's to paying it forward.
i haven't slept well in weeks.
my alarm went off at 5:45am, which is just stupid.
it is 90 degrees in new york city.
it is 1,290 degrees in new york city's subway system.
these factors alone are usually enough to make me want to give up on civilized life. but apparently the gods are testing me, because after walking from a meeting on ninth avenue this morning in a suit in the 90 degree heat in my stupid pinchy shoes and sleepy and cranky and limping down to the seventh circle of hell that is the subway platform, i swipe my card to get slapped with a beep and this kind message:
INSUFFICIENT FARE
now, mind you, this greeting is usually met with a sigh, a digging for $2 or, if i'm lucky, my next-month's card. today i had no spare card, and though i had a few bucks on me it didn't matter, because i was in one of those stupid metrocard-entry only entries with no kiosk, and after staring up at the heat-blurred staircase back up to the street i think i really might have been on the brink of grabbing the third rail had i actually GOTTEN onto the platform, when a generous soul came by to restore my faith in humanity.
me, looking around, helplessly svitzing all over the place and trying my card again as people exiting the station eye me suspiciously: "fuck!"
kind black woman in capris with blue leather purse (i won't forget you!): "you need a ride? here."
and she digs into her bag and swipes me in with her unlimited card. beep! GO.
kind woman in capris, thank you. i hope the spirits reward you with handsome young bucks feeding you bonbons and fanning you with peacock feathers. or, you know, whatever your heart desires. here's to paying it forward.
posted by Amy S. Choi at 3:38 PM
2 comments
