Politics
‘I Noticed That the Woman in the Orange Shirt Was Losing Her Balance’
Trying not to fall on a moving train, a message between old friends and more reader tales of New York City in this week’s Metropolitan Diary.
Lifeline
Dear Diary:
I was headed downtown for a meeting, so I got the No. 2 train at 96th Street. I moved to the end of the car.
When we pulled into 42nd Street, riders flooded in. Among them was a middle-aged woman who stepped with an air of confidence. She wore an orange shirt, a long beige skirt and white stilettos. On her way to a corporate meeting perhaps, I thought.
I watched her glancing around for a seat only to wind up in front of me. When she realized we were facing each other, she moved past me.
At that very moment, the train gave a jerk and began to speed down the tunnel. I tried to grab the bar above my head but missed it.
As I felt myself falling backward, I noticed that the woman in the orange shirt was losing her balance as well and searching for something to cling to.
Her arms did some windmills, and my right hand reflexively stretched to hers like a lifeline. She gripped it immediately.
