April 04, 2006 - 1:30 PM

Subway Riding with Y

Here's Y's guest entry.
*********
It’s a Saturday night, and I hop on the 2 train, headed uptown to go to the opera – La Forza Del Destino (ed. note-this is the same opera that I saw, at the same place, when I was a Sophomore at Amherst. The only Opera I've ever seen. Weird, huh?). Sounds fancy, huh? I got tickets from a partner at work, in thanks for helping him prepare for a speaking engagement. Cool, right? It would be, except that the performance is 4 hours long (and ends at midnight!), and I’m already feeling a little sleepy.

Anyway, like I said, I get on the subway at Wall Street. And it’s packed with people. I manage to get a seat at 14th Street, next to a guy with his head down and with his furry hoody over his head. Two girls are standing in front of us, talking excitedly to each other. After a while, they say to him/me, “Excuse me, is Penn Station coming up soon?” The guy (I’ll call him Dude) takes a minute to answer (I think they woke him up), and I say, “Yeah, 34th Street – it’s coming up soon.” Dude says, “Yeah, few more stops,” and he lowers his hood, revealing a cleanly shaven head. Dude turns and looks at me. I look straight ahead. The express 2 train is running local (translation: the train is making all the stops, not just the express ones, and it’s annoying me), so I watch as the train approaches 18th Street, 23rd Street, 28th Street, and then 34th Street – Penn Station. I look over at the girls, and they are jabbering and totally not paying attention to the stops. I yell over at the girls, “Hey- this is your stop.” I watch as the girls scurry out of the train, practically shoving a little old woman off her feet.

Dude turns to me again, and he says, “Those girls were too busy talking.” I say, “Yup.” Then he starts talking to himself (or me? I can’t tell), saying, “Oh, there’s nothing like a packed subway after a long day at work. My back hurts, my feet hurt, and the subway is packed.”

I half-smile and say, “Oh sorry. Long day?” He continues to tell me that, yes, it has been a long day, and he’s tired and the subway is packed, but hey, this is New York. Gotta love New York. Gotta love the subway.

“Yup,” I say.

Dude says, “Are you a New Yorker?”

I say, “Yup,” because, I guess I am now.

Then, Dude turns to me, extending his hand. Dude says, “What’s your name?”

I recoil for a second, thinking that I don’t really feel like shaking the hand of a complete stranger on a New York subway. I left my Purell at home. The finger of that hand could have been picking a nose. But, I look at him fully for the first time (instead of sideways, like I had from 14th Street to about 42nd Street now). He looks like a nice guy – he’s got warm brown eyes and skin like creamy caramel. I shake Dude’s hand and say, “Oh hi, I’m Y…”

Dude says, “Hi, my name is Jojo… I am an exotic dancer.”

Exotic what? “Oh,” I say. I can’t think of anything else to say, so I end up saying, “That’s cool.” That’s cool?!?!

Dude – well, Jojo now – says, “Yeah, I’m a Chippendale!”

Exotic what? I’m still trying to think of a response to the whole “exotic dancer” comment from 5 seconds before. He’s a Chippendale? Part of me develops a little more respect for him. I mean, not everyone can be a Chippendale.

Jojo looks at me. I look at him. He mistakes my lack of speech for confusion. He says, “You know the Chippendales? We’re the ones with the bowties,” Jojo says helpfully, gesturing a bow tie with his hands.

I still can’t think of anything to say, so I go with my old stand-by. “Oh, that’s cool.” But this time, I add, “Yeah, you must deal with a lot of drunk women, huh?”

I see the old woman (the one who almost got knocked over by the jabbering girls) look over at me slightly. Hey lady, you try to have a civilized conversation with a stripper on the subway.

Jojo continues talking. I mean, gotta love New York, right? New Yorkers don’t skip a beat. He says, “Yeah, it’s alright – I’ve been working there for 3 years now. I have to work there tonight – but I’m on my way home from my other job in Brooklyn.”

I say (of course), “Oh, that’s cool.”

He says, “Yeah, I work at the meat department at Costco. You been there before? It’s in Brooklyn.” I think to myself – how ironic, you work with meat during the day, and you’re treated like meat at night. I keep that comment to myself though.

Jojo asks me where I’m going, and I tell him I’m going to the opera. He makes a curious comment, saying, “I’ve never been to anything like that before. You’d have to take me to something like that sometime.”

I’d have to what? Um…. I look at the stops. We’re at 59th. One more stop to 66th, which is where the Met is and where I’m getting off.

He takes out his cell phone and says, “Hey, would it be alright for me to call you tomorrow?”

I say quickly, “Oh, I have a boyfriend.” Thank goodness I have my Pookie.

He looks shocked. Which pisses me off. Why is he so shocked, I think. I say, “Why are you so shocked?”

Jojo laughs apologetically. And says, “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re cocky. I like that.” Um, I don’t want to be using the word “cocky” with a stripper.

Then, in perfect timing, the subway doors open. 66th Street. “Oh, this is my stop! Nice talking to you,” I say and fly out the door.

Gotta love New York.

*********
As an addendum, Y emailed me this this morning:
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the part where Jojo asks me what "nationality" I am. I told him, "Oh I'm Korean," and he says, "My ex girl was Asian." I say, "OK." He says to me, "Is there, like, a difference between Koreans and Asians?"

Seriously, I can't make this stuff up."

Now Listening To : Alison Krauss- Now That I've Found You
Random Thought : If anyone else wants to do a guest entry, feel free to email me.

What I Just Wrote Before - What I'm About to Write

The Five Most Recent Entries

Here's a hand-picked playlist of 40-plus songs for you to listen to: