Adventures on the 1 Train

 Adventures on the 1 Train

It’s amazing to hear the things coming out of my mouth. There was a man across from me on the 1 train. I didn’t see him until he shouted. He had spilled his giant soda from McDonald’s, and all of the liquid was on the floor. Being the parent/teacher/Boy Scout I am, I pulled a wad of napkins out of my bag and handed it to him. He was drunk and incoherent and didn’t know what to do. He wiped a few drops of liquid off his sleeves. I said, “It works on the floor, too.” He was reluctant to do it. In the way I speak to my young students, I said, “You can do it. I know you can do it.” Eventually he did it with enough repetition from me. I told him to put the napkins in his grocery bag. He hesitated, so I repeated that many times, and eventually he did that, too. Of course, in true NYC style, no one revealed that they were aware of the goings on. As the man exited, he thanked me.