15 MINUTES IN EMERGENCY MODE ON THE 1 TRAIN
On Monday I was on the No. 1 subway train uptown, headed for Times Square to meet a friend for lunch. The train just pulled out of the Penn Station stop when we came to an abrupt halt. The woman came on the intercom: "Ladies and gentlemen, this train will be stopped in emergency mode for an undetermined about of time." I whispered a profanity, and looked over the top of my New York Times - the one with the headline that said the U.S. just started bombing Afghanistan the day before. The funny thing was that no one moved, no one else said anything, and there were only a few initial glances around the train, filled with about 30 people. I was thinking about WWIII going on above us, how neither my cell phone nor Palm Pilot could save me with news of what was going on. I expected the train to jolt, or to see the tunnels fill with smoke. And I was trying to gauge why it was that I was apparently the only person on the train having these thoughts. The woman next to me fell asleep, and at least two others did too. People read their books and magazines and waited patiently. After 15 minutes, we started up again and proceeded to Times Square without incident. I got off the train, had my lunch, and took the No. 1 train back downtown.
- posted by Amy @ 10/10/2001 02:43:00 PM