Tis the season

Subway car roulette. You are waiting in the hot, sticky station when the somewhat crowded train finally rolls in. As it comes to a halt, you realize that the car that has stopped right in front of you seems completely empty. Now someone not familiar to the subway system might think- My lucky day! Empty car during rush hour, whoohoo! But to the seasoned rider it can mean one of two things. One: A particularly foul smelling homeless person has either taken residence or left their scent on the car. Two: No air conditioning.

This morning, fortunately, it was the latter. I wasn't feeling tip-top to begin with, so there was no way I gave any thoughts to toughing it out- braving the AC-less car. So when the empty car opened its doors in front of me- lights out to boot, never a good sign either- I made directly for the end door to move in to the next car. A couple people follow suit. Crowded, but about 50 degrees cooler.

Now the curious thing is what seems to happen next with regularity. Whether it's the promise of empty seats, or the tight squeeze caused by the extra people entering the car- a couple people decide they want to move to the car everyone's trying to get out of. I don't know if these people are being brave or stupid, but invariably they come back- and almost immediately at that if the reason winds up being the homeless stench. 

But there always exceptions to the rule. There are those people that will sit in that car no matter what. Impervious to smell or to heat, or willing to put up with hazardous conditions for the sake of a seat on the train? Only they know. All I know is that even the best possible circumstance, you are never 100% comfy on the subway. I am not going to purposely lower that percentage even more, choosing to be nauseated by heat and/or stink.