Today on the L Train

Great day for people watching. Rush hour this morning I had three people keeping me occupied.

Across from me, standing in the doorway, was a tall guy with 5 days of beard growth, tight jeans, salt and pepper hair gelled forward and up, with mirrored sunglasses. He was something to behold. Like a rock-god daring everyone to try not to notice him. He didn’t move much, just basked in his own glory.

Seated next to me was a large woman in a faux-fur coat. It was maybe supposed to be snow leopard, but it looked more like dalmatian. As if Cruella DeVille sat down next to me after skinning and eating the 101. The coat was floor length with a hood. When she sat down she grew in size. Her bosom lifted and her thighs spread. I wanted to reach out a finger and stroke the coat. I sat with my arms crossed, trying to get the courage to poke it just once. To feel it. To confirm it was fake and not a litter of unfortunate puppies. But I refrained.

The most interesting passenger was a frog-faced man standing in front of me. He was listening to music through his headphones but the volume was turned high enough that anyone could hear it. The music was familiar. It started with a disco beat and then a blast of synthesized trumpets. In between noticing the rock-god and fighting the urge to pet the dalmatians, I pulled up the song in my memory. It was the theme song to CHiPs! This guy was psyching up his day with the music that serenaded Erik Estrada down the highways of Los Angeles.

Which set my mind wandering. What should my Friday theme song be? If I was taking the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan it would definitely be Carly Simon’s Let the River Run (theme from Working Girl). Arriving on a train in a tunnel under the East River calls up something less spectacular, something moody. Something.. … I don’t know.

Eventually, we arrived at Union Square, where I transfered trains and began thinking about other things.