it's easy to move when you've got nothing to lose
Yeah, so continuing on from the last post..

I hopped back on the A going uptown to Penn Station and sat across from an older black man who appeared to be talking to himself. Having had many, many experiences in NYC, this is completely normal to me, so I ignored him at first. But then I started listening, and watching. He looked troubled. He was saying things like 'take a chance' and 'you never know.' 'Pretty girl. You never know.' Like he had a golden opportunity to do something and failed. He had such a pained look on his face. Over and over again.. take a chance, you never know. You never know, you never know. I made eye contact, right before my stop, and he looked at me, and asked 'Right?' Right? I nodded yes.

I got off at the 34th St. station and walked upstairs to Penn. It was about a quarter to midnight with the last train home about an hour away. I bought my ticket and leaned against a column in front of the board with all the destinations, times and track numbers. It wasn't working, so there lots of announcements about that and about arriving and departing trains. I was texting a bit to pass the time and noticed a man and a woman in front of me. The man was in a suit and the woman was wearing one of the more hideous pairs of pants I'd ever seen. They were faded jeans and starting about mid-hip it began to stripe non-faded with faded all the way down to the ankle. They were pants you might expect a 10 year old girl to wear, but here she was with suit, and they were both drinking beer from paper bags. Out of the corner of my eye, while I was looking at my phone, I noticed a girl walk between me and them and stand next to me, leaning against the same column. The couple in question walked away in front of us, and after a few seconds I half-turned to this girl and inquired about the sanity of this girl and her pants. She agreed. While I was trying to think of something else to say, there was announcement and when I turned back she was already walking away and telling me goodbye as her train was coming in on the track down the stairs just in front of us. While I thought about that man and my own missed opportunity, I realized her train was my train. I scampered down the steps after her, and we started talking. I asked her where she lived, worked, etc. The usual questions. She works in advertising. I cringed. But she hates it. And she hates her boss. We immediately bonded on that front and when the train arrived sat together and continued talking. I knew we didn't have much time, as she lives in Baldwin (one stop from Rockville Centre Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind kids) and I had to switch trains in Jamaica, so I made sure I got her number before I was up the next morning regretting I hadn't. (Take a chance.. you never know.) I let a little loose about my situation, and she was really nice and tried giving advice and pushing me in the right direction, a direction I know I need to go in. Just nice to hear it from someone not a current friend, or a family member, you know? Debating whether or not I'll ever use her number (probably not, she lives too far away), but I kind of re-learned a lot of things about myself last night I had forgotten, and the way things were going lately, it's a life saver. It really is.

(And it's after 2am and I'm just now getting tired because I spent all day in bed. I drank for about four and a half hours straight during that show and forgot to drink water before I collapsed at 3:30. Really annoying headache all day. My train from Jamaica was way the f late. I awoke for work and decided there was just no way.)