There's FECES on the Train!

I looove the subway. You can get anywhere in the city for $2. My trips are usually uneventful, but lately, things have gotten a whole lot more amusing. Let's start with a sign that's been popping up in the last few months titled, "Lose Something on the Subway?" So, what do we have here... your pet snake perhaps? Your dentures? Your cane or boombox? How about that prosthetic leg? Now someone please tell me how you manage to get around NYC if you've lost your leg. How about that money? Sorry pal, you're never going to see that again. The best may be the pie/cupcake baked good. Why on Earth would you try to find food that you left on the subway? Chances are it has either touched the floor, been manhandled, been urinated on or all of the above.

There were also advertisements up back in January and February from the Bahamas Tourism Board with such titles as, "How to turn a seat into a hammock," "Flyfish with a cellphone on subway tracks," "Subway snorkeling," and "Use your umbrella as a golf club." These ideas seem very unsafe and on top of that, annoying. It's hard enough finding a seat during rush hour without the guy next to you trying to turn the last available one to his right into a hammock. There were a bunch of complaints about these signs and they are almost completely gone.

This brings me to this morning. I had signed up for a NY Road Runners race in Central Park. I left the apartment with plenty of time to get down to Columbus Circle and run across the South end of the park to East 70th street. I met Hyunmi and Mike on the platform and all seemed to be going according to plan. However, the train took a long time to come. After only two stops (at 168th street), the train paused for longer than usual and the conductor came over the speaker shouting, "There's FECES on the train!" Apparently it was in the train behind us, as we saw people fleeing the scene. A few cops got on board and no one seemed happy to be involved. When all was said and done, we were all very late. I had to sprint to the start line and was still over 11 minutes late for the start. You have to love the subway though. Where else in the world can you find Mole people holes, breakdancers and public urinators in one hot, dirty public transportation system? Nowhere but NYC baby.