A Train Buddy in NYC
By: Shamecca Williams


One night unlike any other I got drunk at a friends house. She gave me directions on how to get to the bus stop. Those directions sounded just like this I will never forget. " Go straight then go straight". I answered, " What the hell does that mean, go straight then go straight then go straight. What kind of directions are those". She continued to repeat the same thing until her brother gave me money for a cab. I took the cab to the train station. She lived in Queens and I lived in the Bronx which was a long ways away.

As I walked down the stairs to the train station at approximately ten thirty. A man approached me and asked me if I needed a train buddy. I glanced at him to see if he was serious, because in new York city that just isn't common for someone to ask you. However I responded jolly and ready to explore what a train buddy meant. The train ride began at Jamaica Center in Queens. We talked and we laughed and we talked some more and laughed even louder uncontrollably. His stop was Queens Plaza which was the next stop and the train was pulling in the station. At that moment I realized I didn't know his name and didn't have enough time to get his number. We had rode the train for thirty minutes, and I knew nothing about him besides he was funny. I literally cried before he got off the train. I will never forget that day. Sometimes I wonder if I made the same impact on him that he left on me. I guess that was the last time in New York that a human being would treat another human like a social being.

According to Eric Jaffe who wrote " Your commute is slowly killing you". " People with lengthy commutes show an increased amount of stress, get worse sleep, and experience decreased social interaction". I believe this true more now than before, because my experience with my train buddy occurred about six years ago. During my research I couldn't find any researchers with anything good to say about the commute in NYC. So I am grateful to have had one out of millions maybe even billions according to Google search. So I would like to urge NYC commuters to be more optimistic about their day and their commute so that we all can have a pleasant day. "Kindness is Contagious".