When in the ever-evolving process of becoming a New Yorker, you take the small victories.
I have been taking the subway a lot more these days as I am working out at a new gym. I can get to the gym via one stop on the subway during my lunch hour, leaving from underneath my building. Using the subway makes the whole trip do-able in a little over an hour.
The trip can stretch longer, though, if I miss the train and have to wait 5-8 minutes on the next one. By that point, walking would be faster. Catching the train is key.
The first few times I did this whole process, whether or not I would catch the train in a timely manner seemed entirely left up to chance.
Through astute observation, though, I learned to read the subway station. Like a living animal, if you pay enough attention, the subway tells you things.
For example, I learned to take out my subway card out BEFORE going down, thus having it swipe-ready if the train is approaching. Fumbling for your card at the turnstile will leave the train laughing at you as it pulls out of the station.
I observed that if no one is coming out of the station, I better hurry down the stairs because that means a train hasn't yet arrived, and one is probably coming soon.
If people are flooding out and up the stairs, then I really hurry down the stairs, because that means the train just let it passengers out. I may still have time to swipe and get in before the familiar "ding ding" heralds the closing doors.
If people are trickling out of the station, I am probably too late, and can slow down my stride. Most of the disembarking passengers have left the station already except for the stragglers, and the subway doors are probably close to closing.
Today, as I left the gym and approached the station entrance, I saw no one was coming out. I hurried up. As I got to the top of the stairs, the flood of people started up the stairs. I had already removed my Metrocard and had it in hand. I pulled my gym bag close. I dashed down the stairs, before the rush yielded to a trickle.
"Ding Ding" said the train
"Beware of the closing doors..." said the pre-recorded voice.
I swiped.
I pushed.
I lept.
All in one motion.
And, I made the train. Timed perfectly, and rather gracefully, if I do say so myself.
Of course, no one even glanced at my feat. No one cheered my New York lesson about how to read a subway station. I smiled to myself, though, and thought: Yep, a little closer to a real New Yorker.
