Building with Many Numbers
As I got to the turnstile at the subway station near me, I could hear the train pulling into the station. I still had to go through the turnstile and climb up two flights of stairs, with my heavy busking gear. As I rushed up the stairs I could hear the announcement “Stand clear of the closing doors please”. A guy ran past me and made it into the train. Naturally, he didn’t stop to help me up the stairs, but he didn’t even think to hold the train’s doors open for me 🙁
The conductor noticed me coming up the stairs. He motioned to me not to rush, telling me I will make it into the train. He held the train until I was in it! Now that’s a nice man!
An older gentleman said ‘hi’ to me.
Saw Lady: “I haven’t seen you in a long time”
Gentleman: “But you’re still my friend, right?”
Saw Lady: “Always.”
A lady told me she was challenged by a friend of hers to find me, after a discussion they had about subway musicians. She said many years ago, probably before I was born, she used to hang out at coffee houses in the Mid West, where people played the musical saw.
Louis from Puerto Rico told me his older sister, Ester, died at age one. Then his older brother, Ishmael, died at age one, so Louis became the eldest. He used to be a junkie and had two guns, but he never used them. He used to go dancing at Union Square when there used to be a club where today the building with many numbers is. Louis said he saw me three times before, but only now he stopped to talk to me.
The Churros sales lady said ‘hi’ to me on her way down to the platform, pushing her cart. She has expanded her business – in addition to the churros she now also sells something wrapped in a colorful paper. Anybody knows what it is?
The lady with a black brade who always says ‘hi’ to me stopped to chat. Her voice was gone. Her throat doesn’t hurt, she said, but it got so swollen that she had to go to the hospital. The Doctor said it’s the weather.
Saw Lady: “Maybe you should move to Florida (better weather).”
Lady: “I wish I could”.
Saw Lady: “Well, at least your throat doesn’t hurt. So – you have a sexy voice 🙂 ”
A guy showed me a book about African health. It said how an experiment was made: hospital workers injected themselves with aids infected needles, and they didn’t get the illness. That was because their immune systems were good. The book talked about garlic – how eating a whole head of garlic a day would give one good health.
At 3:10pm Jeremiah Lockwood, the Blues guitar player/singer, showed up for his permitted time slot. His son Jacob in now 4 months old and his elder son Moses is two.
On the platform below there was a guy playing guitar with a lady in a wheel chair playing harmonica.
On the other platform there was a guy playing electric guitar. Further down the platform an erhu player was playing. I, on the other hand, was done for the day.