Not from around here.

So, I’ve been very busy of late. The schlep to work is time-consuming but bearable. One part of that schlep is the subway ride downtown from Grand Central.

Riding the subway is an experience in and of itself but, living in New York for most of my life I have become inured to it. It just has become one of those necessities of the day, some days being better than others depending on whether the trains are bunched up or not. Last week I had one day where I rode the express (which was a bit misleading because the thing crawled downtown) only to get to my stop when something happened and the train just died a car short of being totally in the station. So, there we sat with the doors closed for a good bit of time while the maddening if vague announcements about there being a problem with the train were repeated every five minutes or so.

One thing I notice now is that there is this big campaign about security down in the subways. They make it all well and clear that just by riding the train you are subject to random searches of your person (or bag) and there is a pronounced presence of police underground. It’s all very ironic in a way to someone who has lived here in New York from the seventies and who can well remember the wild west kind of atmosphere that at one time existed. Those days where riding the train was really a little unsafe, graffiti was everywhere and you just made sure to always be aware of the people around you.

Nowadays they have this ubiquitous campaign to heighten riders who may have been lulled into a false sense of security. I’m sure you’ve seen the signs if you been down in the subway... the campaign is ‘If you see something...’ well if you’ve seen it you know the rest.

Just reading it though, I know it’s one of those things that wasn’t thought up by a true New Yorker. True New Yorkers are a different breed and I’m not saying we’re a heartless bunch, just maybe a little more realistic where the world is concerned. So, taking that campaign I thought I would give it the true New Yawk slant it deserves. Just remember if you see it anywhere else, you saw it here first: