1000MonkeysOnline | The Subway Diaries by Emily Blair
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30 Jan The Subway Diaries by Emily Blair

The Subway Diaries

By: Emily Blair

8:18am. A particularly frigid January morning. I approach Bathurst Station on the 511 bus.

I am relieved to see the transit police are not there checking for proof of payment as I used the back doors to get on the bus to avoid using my presto card. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

As I depart from the bus tarmac, I regret not wearing longer socks, a snap of cold air hits the space between my shoes and pants, stinging my ankles. I shuffle towards the certain warmth inside the station doors, getting bumped and pushed along the way amongst the other cold city dwellers.

I stand in my regular spot, knowing that it’s closest to the escalators when transferring to my next train. As my Eastbound train approaches, I choose the least crammed car closest to me. It is still very crammed. I roll my eyes as I push to make it on the car. I get hold of a handle to keep by balance from the quick jolt of the train and getting nudged by my fellow commuters.

Luckily, a minute later I get a seat as many get off at St. George Station. I sit across from a guy with two tear drops tattooed under his left eye. I am oddly attracted to him. Standing beside me is a tall, plump teenager wearing a fitted cap saying 6IX GOD, I can’t help but chuckle to myself as I would never be caught dead in one.

I get off at Bloor-Yonge and transfer to the Northbound platform. YES! A train approaches as soon as I get there. I love it when this happens. As the door close and I find a seat, I wait for the train to start moving. One minute… now two minutes go by… and nothing. As people start to look around, a man comes on the PA system “due to fire investigation, there is going to be a twenty-minute delay”. I hear a communal sigh in frustration as I avoid making eye contact with anyone. Ughhh….It is too early for this shit.