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Friday, September 9. Bum Rush the Door!

Ok so. Today I actually had a coveted commute.  I left on time. It wasn't raining. I strolled happily (well...NY happy) along the four blocks to the train. One of those blocks is about a half mile long... But nothing bothered me much, save for the lady walking directly behind me right on my heels. I wondered why she didn't just go around or at least step to the side, but whatever. As I walked gingerly along, strangers smiled at me. I smiled back. (Yeah! Me!!) They smiled at me so much that I wondered why and felt around my hat and face to see if I had left some unwanted object there. I did rub in that acne cream, right? As soon as possible, I checked my reflection in a store window.  My whole world was beautiful.

I get to the platform. A train comes within five minutes.  I look at my iPhone (watch...same difference) and it is exactly 8:31.  Great! I'll be on time and I don't have to silently stress. There isn't anywhere to sit once I step into the subway car, but that's no surprise. I noticed a unique character of subway riders.  Usually, people getting off at the next stop will gather as close as possible to one of the train car doors. That makes sense, right? Except for the fact that they leave all of the standing room inside the car, empty.  And no one can get over there, past them, to stand.  Let me paint the picture:  The doors open, mad people rush off the train and past those waiting on the platform to enter the train car.  As the people leave, those on the train leaving at the next stop, position themselves near the door leaving the inside of the car empty and the door crowded before the newcomers can even board.  The newcomers know they only have seconds to enter that car and find a space to sit or safely hold on so they move like lightening into the car, often only to step inside and crowd the door area more, since they cannot get past the next group of people planning to exit. If you dare be so bold as to say excuse me to a "stander," they glare at you as if you have upset their world.  Don't take it personally.  It's the subway rider's way.

You can imagine that the people waiting on the platform have developed a system of their own to ensure they get on board the train before the doors close. Believe it or not, the trains operate on a schedule.  Seriously! For that reason, the doors cannot stay open and wait for everyone to come in at their leisure.  You gotta hurry up and get on the thing! And that's exactly what disturbed my peace.  As I was sitting peacefully, and reading my amazing Paulo Coelho book, I heard commotion at one of the entrances to my train car. I looked up to see people pushing on as people were getting off.  Really? As many times as we've heard the conductor say, "Let 'em off first, people! Let 'em off!" But what really surprised me was that the people bum rushing the door to get on the train were all women! "Sistahs are doin' it for themselves." Indeed. I guess the NYC ladies are tired of the lack of chivalry and are now, "throwin' dem 'bows" to get what they need.  Interesting.

Lesson:  Chivalry is almost completely dead...in public transportation, anyway. It's every woman for herself.

A Girl Changing The World

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