I was surprised to find a seat on the 6 train this morning. Sometimes I have to wait for several trains to pass by my station before I can even squeeze aboard, much less find seating.
I crossed the car, turned around and unslung my backpack from my shoulders, clumsily smacking it against the seat in front of me. As I sat down, I heard the unmistakable tinkling of glass.
Uh oh.
My first thought was that my glasses had fallen out of the netted pouch on the side of my backpack, and that I had SAT on them. Then I thought about my iPod.
Double uh oh.
Trying not to panic, I slid my left hand behind me and felt around.
Nothing.
I moved my hand further over towards the man next to me and felt under his coat. He looked over from his Financial Times and raised his eyebrows. I smiled weakly and removed my hand.
I shifted the backpack from my lap to the floor in front of me, and when I leaned forward, I heard the tinkling noise again. I sat up straight and this time reached around behind me with my right hand. The young girl next to me scooted over a bit, as I pawed around on her side. But again, I found nothing.
I leaned forward and pulled my iPod out of the side pocket as the train paused at 51st Street. As the train lurched out of the station, something clattered loudly across the floor and came to rest against my backpack, just as I was leaning forward. I snatched at it and sat back up to examine it.
It was a long, slightly blackened CRACK PIPE.
I looked around the car and realized that as far as the other passengers were concerned, that crack pipe had just fallen out of my shirt packet while I leaned over my backpack. Financial Times Man was looking disdainfully over his glasses at me. The girl next to me stared, wide-eyed. The other riders sent me looks ranging from pity to disgust.
So naturally, I held that crack pipe up in front of my face making the "Oh, THERE you are!" face. I tucked it into my top pocket and leaned back, smiling.
The other passengers shook their heads at each other and we rolled on.
music: "White Lines"- Grandmaster Flash