Lobbying for Time

Judy R. gets into the elevator on the second floor with her two children (double stroller). She tells them I'm very friendly with their uncle Ari and they should say hi, which they do. I say hi back and give a friendly wave just before getting out on the lobby floor.  I'm in the wrong lobby. It's 9:04 A.M. and I thought I'd be walking into my office building by now, but it appears I'm still at home.

On 186th, an Orthodox Jewish girl pulls her skirt down a bit lower. She keeps doing this till we reach the train station, or at least until I lose her at the turnstiles.

In an effort to avoid anyone I know and finish reading an article on the Borukhova case, I use the catwalks above the tracks to reach my spot. Looking down below I spot Suri G. and wonder what she's doing here, since she lives further downtown. Mental note: get the gossip.

On the train I grab a seat next to Ronnie S. who is so engrossed in his phone that he barely acknowledges me, even when I say hello. I'm not easily offended though, and by the time he puts his phone away and takes out a Sefer, I've already forgotten and opened my New Yorker.

All Dressed Up

Tonight is the company holiday party and I'm wearing a suit.  I've also put on my fancy winter coat, the only one I own which extends below the jacket of a suit. It's also my warmest coat, and at today's temperatures I would have worn it regardless.

I head down to the basement to throw out the garbage and run into Willie, the building superintendant, in the elevator. We wish each other a good day and I head out the back door, running into Willie again as I walk around the block to the front of the building.

At the train station I see Nomi M. standing near the entrance, talking on her cell. I smile and wave to her, and she waves back with the pinky of the hand holding the phone.

The train arrives right away and I board.  Just as the doors are closing, I am jabbed by a horrible stench. The source is immediately obvious - a homeless man sleeping nearby. I head to the opposite end of the car, where the smell is somewhat tolerable, and hear a mother tell her child "don't worry, we'll move to another car at the next stop."

Sitting across from me is a woman in a plaid blue coat, brown corduroy pants, silver shoes, and giant sunglasses. A white knitted beret covers her hair, which is large, full of dreads, and painted blue to match to the coat. She is covering her mouth and nose with a handful of dreadlocks to avoid the stench wafting from the other side of car.

Dido's "Mary's in India" starts to play over my headphones, and it reminds me of someone I cared for long ago.

At 59th, I see Benny S. on the platform, as well as Suri G. She usually takes the 1 train but today it was having issues and she is on the 8th avenue line instead. I had just seen Suri the other night at a Cuban-Jewish event hosted by the JDC, which we both attended. The B train arrives and I get on, leaving Suri behind to wait for the A.