Prior to my move to Manhattan, the subway ranked high among the “amenities” I looked forward to enjoying as an NYC resident. I had lived in three cities with sub-par public transit systems and was eagerly anticipating leaving my wheels in California along with car payments, insurance, registration, permits, tickets, parking, and the constant fear that my car would be broken into or vandalized. I love to drive, but I think anyone would agree that owning a car in a city is a challenge.
Even with its myriad headaches—snotty passengers, infrequent trains, steamy summer mornings underground—the subway has not let me down. There is a learning curve, but like the rest of Manhattan, it’s accompanied by no small sense of pride. In fact once you get it figured out, navigating the subway system with relative ease is the ultimate sign that you belong.
The subway is truly a separate world, geographically and psychologically. Ever since I started this blog I’ve wanted to create a category of posts about the fascinating and bizarre things I’ve witnessed underground.
I’ve seen couples taking engagement photos, a guy carrying a car fender and kindergartners on a field trip. There have been scenes frightening and moving–a social worker reunited with a man who had been in her care; a family struggling with a mom who had had too much to drink; a young woman who believed in love at first sight on the platform; and of course the arguments, crying, and people in pain.
On top of this are the subway “regulars”: people selling batteries, candy or counterfeit DVDs; those asking for money or preaching a message; bewildered tourists from Europe or the midwest; and the entertainers, from Sunday morning men’s gospel groups to mariachi bands to drum circles.
The subway is a slice of New York life; the pinnacle of people-watching; the place where we can truly catch a glimpse into the life of others. Every passenger has a story.
While I’m often content to observe and imagine, sometimes I can’t help but engage with my fellow passengers, as happened this past Wednesday morning on the Brooklyn-bound B train heading into midtown.
Soon after boarding I noticed a smartly-dressed woman carrying what looked like a large, thin iPod in a camel-colored leather case.
“Is that a Kindle?” I asked her. I’d noticed more reading these electronic devices on the subway, but I wasn’t sure how to tell one from another.
“It’s actually a Sony Reader,” she said in a tone that I interpreted to mean she was open to conversation.
“Do you like it? What kinds of material do you read on it?”
“Well, actually I’m a book editor so I load all my submissions on it. Since most of them end up in the slush pile, it saves a lot of paper.” I had never considered this as a possible application for the digital reader but suddenly it seemed as if this could have been its inspiration.
We discussed the merits of the Reader and its ease of use. Apparently Word documents work better than PDFs because you can adjust the size of the type. The book editor bid me goodbye at Rockefeller Center–fittingly since it is the heart of the publishing world. I was left to ponder the future of the written word as I went off to my job as a print journalist, feeling hopeful about a technology that could drastically reduce our need for paper and the resulting waste. The irony is not lost on me.
Apparently I’m not the only one with digital readers on the brain. On Sunday the NY Times had something to add to the conversation, and last month the NY Observer considered their future role in the media.
If you have one of these readers, I’d love to hear what you think. If you don’t, what’s been holding you back? What do you think about their future role in our lives? Will they replace books, newspapers, magazines?
I expect this subject to crop up again in future posts, in addition to further accounts of life on the subway.
2 Comments
May 20, 2008 at 10:41 am
First of all, the classic subway encounter in my experience is when the mariachi band gets on your subway car, “entertains” you between stops, and then asks you for a donation. It is interesting to see how people react to the hat being passed around. Some people ignore them completely, and some are shamed into putting in some spare change.
I have listened to the guys on “This Week In Tech” (TWiT) guys go on about the Kindle in their podcasts a few times (http://twit.tv/123). I am definitely interested in trying a Kindle. My bag does tend to get a bit heavy carrying (and often running!) with a large hardback around the airports of the US that I regularly frequent.
However, I’m not sure I am willing to spend $400 for a Kindle. Plus, it is kind of nice to have my old physical books on my bookshelf after I have read them. I feel like the books a person reads can tell you about their interests, so by having them on display you let people know a part of yourself, if they care to look.
In the long run though, it is inevitable I think. The Kindle is a step in that direction. I think I will wait until the Kindle 2 comes out. In the mean time, I will save my money for plane flights and Wii games.
May 21, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I just got back from a week of camping on the beach, and I read a different copy of “Monkey Wrench Gang” that included a few essays in the back. I liked having it along in a paperback, because as I came back to the book each time I got a little bit of salt water on the spine. The cover is nearly ready to fall off, but a little duct tape should solve that problem. Or maybe just leave it as it is, and let it help remind me of the few days that I soul searched on the beach with a book as moving as that to help my imagination along.
Anyway, much like email something is lost when it goes from print ‘n’ paper to binary code. Can’t fold an email, can’t put it in the mail, can’t decorate the envelope (save a witty ‘Subject’ line for an email). I like paper and all the stories it can carry. Ever used a maple leaf you found in the fall as a bookmark? You don’t really have to with the e-book. (Lucky for my little soapbox most paper used to print on isn’t made using maple trees)
If you get one, use it to read the newspaper. I think there is often more information than one can handle in the newspapers - things that are left unread and discarded. However, with a book it seems that you’ve poured over every last page, and every inch of the page. It’s done its job, and I venture to say it’s not a waste at all if you read it from cover to cover.
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