Yonkers Station (courtesy of wikipedia)
When I moved to New York from Massachusetts last year I gave up one commuter's experience for another.
In Massachusetts, I was seated behind the wheel, with my radio tuned to "traffic on the three's" anticpating where the latest breakdown or construction project might be and how my 38 minute drive could turn into an 2 hour nightmare. I could swear at the top of my lungs, tell people who cut me off that they were number one on my hit parade, and sit frustrated in traffic. Public transit just took longer, ran infrequently durring the so called rush hours and took one train, two subways and a shuttle bus just to get to work. Driving seemed like a better option.
In New York driving is not an option. I take either a 25 of 34 minute train ride and a vigorous 20 minute walk to the office. The train rides are always intriguing and entertaining. I don't have to schedule my departure with the same precision as Massachusetts. I can leave at 6:56, 7:06, 7:17, 8:01 and 8:17 and be downtown before 9 am. I've even taken the 6:12 which is cool because it puts me in the office before 7 am.
Not that this means a whole lot to you, unless you're a commuter.
Train conductors are like baseball umpires. No two are alike. One would think there wouldn't be a whole of variation, in saying, "Tickets, please!' or "thank you". Watch a major league baseball game and you'll be amazed by the variety in umpires calling balls and strikes, and safe and out.
Some are brusque, some are friendly, some are taciturn and some rhyme. Like the conductor who rhymed " it's a thrill, to go to Marble Hill." Or "you'll go bonkers at our next stop, Yonkers." This is New York, so you know I can't be making this up.
As for the commuters, they are a hale and hardy bunch. There are many who have been commuting together so long, they know each other and their families names, and special events, like weddings, graduations, layoffs, etc.
You never know who'll you'll see on the platform
Then there are the solitary ones. Like "Mets Fan." He wears the same blue and orange warm up jacket year 'round and chain smokes on the platform. I practice staying upwind so I don't have to inhale the second hand smoke.
Then there is "Book Girl" a 20 something who is plugged into her iPod and reads voraciously. She goes through at least two books a week, and the genre never stays the same. I never heard of any of the authors. I know they're all paperbacks and she never uses the library. She always stand up and rides between the 125th Steet station and Grand Central because she needs to get off the train first. This is one of the the habits of the true New York commuter.
Then there's "Finance Guy" who reads the Times and WSJ on the way into the city. Always well attired and well coiffed, he sometimes engages in conversation with "Exercise Woman" who wears a knit headband, carries a gym bag and wears workout clothing and sneakers beneath her Burberry coat.
I see these folks for 30 minutes of their lives Monday through Friday, and wonder how they spend the rest of their lives we don't share the Hudson line from Yonkers to Grand Central. Why do I do that? I'm curious about human behavior and needed material for today's blog post.
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Comments
Vac -- without any doubt.
--rated-- for the observational opportunities you've got.
Ten quid from the bank and I got out of town with relief
And slowly but surely my life came to flower again
Falling head over heels for a beautiful girl on the train
She was reading a book, taking in every word the man wrote
And there in the margin she made the occasional note
And I couldn't deduce why she didn't once blink with surprise
As fathom by fathom I gradually drowned in her eyes
But she kept on the job of improving her single-track brain
Ploughing steadily onward through obsolete Monsieur Verlaine
While no further than seven-foot-six from her fabulous mouth
Sat the leading young poetic hope of the whole planet earth
Well apart from the chance of the driver accepting a cheque
For crashing his loco so I could be brave in the wreck
To boldly encounter this creature was not in my power
And so my heart mended and broke in the course of an hour
Well at last we pulled in and as straight as a three-sided knife
She got up and walked like a princess away from my life
And unless she remembers the day she was reading Verlaine
In a second-class coach on her way through the fields in the rain
She won't know it's her that I sing to again and again
Again and again
Pete Atkin "Girl on a train" (lyrics by Clive James)
OE, I commuted for years -- first on the Hudson Line when I lived near Sleepy Hollow (Pocantico Hills). And lately on the Harlem Line, from Goldens Bridge. I used to read or sleep. Lately I use my computer with my mobile wireless. Such a good space of time to get things done -- if you're not next to a talker on a cell.
I'm selling my condo in Somers because of the financial mess -- now just in Florida -- and will actually miss my train rides.
Janie -- that's a pretty cool story about the "regulars" buying a seat for your aunt. You're right about the differences between the train and subway. You can buy beer and drinking at Grand Central for the commuter train ride home, but you can't consume alcohol on the Subway. Go figure.
Anni -- thanks for the comments. Not having public transportation when you've been exposed to it really stinks.
Verbal -- When my wife and I went to California for our honeymoon, we took Amtrak from San Diego to LA only because we didn't want to have to drive for the entire vacation. We had breakfast at the Grand Central cafe near the the train station, and observed that the real Grand Central was 3,000 miles away.
Mr. M -- I know there's some commuter rail in southern CT, but not up by Hartford? Bummer. The "T" is ok, but not great.
Mom --Thanks, as much as I would love to post there photos here, I think the names are descriptive enough.
Blue -- I understand what it's like not have mass transit.
GeeBee -- Thanks, for the song. The lyrics are cool.
Fab -- Glad to rekindle some memories. I wasn't sure if this post would resonate with as many people as it has.
Jess -- It really sucks to have your commute home take long than the commute to work. When I commuted in Massachusetts it took 38 minutes to drive to work, upwards of 60 to 90 minutes to drive home. The stress of driving in traffic, takes its toll.
Then, when the tenant got mugged and left, it was time to jettison the two family and hit the burbs, and I wound up in Newbury.
For several months I would still read the newspaper on the steering wheel, only now I was going 80 instead of 8. I had to learn to leave the paper at my side and only open it up when I got into bumper to bumper stuff around Wakefield.
Same concept, even though it is not the train.
Difference there, as well, was that if I left the office at 5:00 or left it at 6:30, I would get home about the same time, so I loved working late because it shortened the commute home.
When I was a kid my parents had a Summer place in Suffolk Co. I used to ride the L.I.R.R into the city to watch people. I had a few favorite spots. One was a McDonalds in midtown Manhattan somewhere. It was like being in a human aquarium. Stand in the front window and watch the stream of humanity go by. Another was Penn Station. There was a spot where an old Nun sat with a wicker basket in her lap, next to a post where streams of commuters flowed past her. I would stand along the brick walls and watch the contrast. People flowed past in a blur and dropped money in the basket without looking down. She would sit there and accepting it without looking up. No one saw anyone else. I was the only one watching. NYC is amazing!
Well written and engaging, as always.
Interesting post.
Rated & Cheers!
Leonde -- Is the snow gone yet in Sumner?
Smithery -- When I lived in Maine and had a 30 mile commute in little or no traffic in the summer, I enjoyed the downtime. In the winter, I wish I could have ridden a train.
Janie -- I kid you not. Beer is $6. Drinks are $6.25 and up. Never have seen or heard any incidents on the train.
Silk -- Glad you enjoyed this.
Geoff -- You are living proof of why Massachusetts drivers enjoy the reputation that they deserve. I had a co-worker who lives in Gloucester, who calls me every now and again while he's stuck on the southeast expressway while l look out my window onto 34th street. He used to have conference call meetings while he was stuck in traffic.
I can see why you chose to wait to leave until 6:30. No sense being stuck in traffic for an hour.
Buffy -- Thanks for reading.
Bubba -- Haha that's pretty funny.
Scupper -- Thanks for the compliment.
I did take the fast train from Geneva to Paris once... that rocked!
MAWB -- I'm married to a HAWT woman, so need for me to talk with stranger women on the train. I wish I had a ghost story to go along with the train story.
Love people watching/people wondering. (((OE)))
A wonderful observation on the world around you. A great piece!!
dharma -- This is such a part of New York. The intimacy of being with the same people each day, and yet the emotional distance we all maintain.
Luis -- This is why LA and NYC are such different places.
Trains, subways, buses, cabs and feet---all viable means of transportation in my beloved NY and most cities (maybe not the subways). But here in LA a car is required to go anywhere. I hate that.
m. a. h. -- I met your brother last week, how cool is that? I've been to LA three times and all I could think of was episodes from CHIPs from the 80s. It's not a walker's city like NY or Boston. To spend so much of your life behind the wheel. yuck.
Great imagery. It's amazing what we can adapt to in terms of our morning commute over time. I've lived 2 minutes drive time from my office and an hour and a half. Each time, you get used to it. I prefer the 2 minute drive by the way...
(rated) for by D-A-W-G
great post!