The G Train is the least reliable of New York’s subway lines. This latest shutdown spelled nuthin’ but trouble for me. OK, maybe a chance to reflect on humanity’s essential goodness…
NEW YORK — It’s no wonder this city is considered the greatest on the planet. You can find more beautiful cities, more livable ones, more affordable, more friendly… But New York: It’s in a class by itself. No other city is more … human, with all the attendant foibles and fabulousness.
Our species’ great heights and grim lows: they’re all found here. And if you give New York a chance, it won’t disappoint you.
Here’s my latest evidence: Last night I arrived at LaGuardia airport. If you’re planning on using anything other than a cab or car service, don’t fly into this airport. As I discovered, public transportation in New York does not look kindly upon LaGuardia.
I successfully got onto the subway’s G Train only to discover that it’s the least reliable of the city’s subway lines. Track maintenance this weekend meant that a large portion of the line from Queens to Brooklyn was shut down. I had to transfer to a (shudder) bus to get to the subway station where I would transfer to yet another train to get to my friend’s apartment where I’m staying.
Lost and Found
Well, I got to talking with the friendly Brooklyn bus driver and lost track of one of my bags: my camera bag, complete with both video and digital cameras and assorted accessories. And the copy of Wallace Stegner’s “Crossing to Safety” (read it! It’s awesome!) one of my fellow volunteers in Mississippi gave to me. I was about three-quarters done with the book and anxious to finish it.
A brownstone in Brooklyn’s historic Carroll Gardens neighborhood, where my Good Samaritan returned my wayward camera bag.
So I got off the bus and was halfway down the stairs to the subway when I realized I left the bag behind and rushed (if you can call it that, carrying three pieces of luggage) back to the street just as the shuttle was leaving the curb.
I had a dispatcher radio ahead to the bus but the bag was nowhere to be found. I gave the bag (and the unfinished book — grrrr!) up for lost.
The next afternoon a message from Facebook shows up in my email — Subject: Lost and Found. Sure enough, a Good Samaritan named Ana had found my bag with my name in it and dutifully searched for me on Facebook and sent me the message. Consider me a Facebook fan.
But now I’m even more of a New York fan — especially Brooklyn. The city’s size may be intimidating but I’ve rarely found people more compassionate and honest (usually brutally so) than I have here.
