For the first two weeks of work, I really did listen to Vanessa Carlton’s early-2000s hit, “A Thousand Miles,” while I made my way downtown. I thought it was funny. Nobody else did.
I also spent the first two weeks thinking my commute took almost an hour because I was scared to take the bus and thought walking 15 minutes to the Q then switching to the 1 in Times Square would be easier. As it turns out, nothing that involves Times Square is ever “easier.” And walking to the Q is a bad idea 9/10 times I need to go somewhere. Plus, the bus has WiFi and reliable AC. Two of my favorite things.
Commuting may not sound like an exciting part of my life, probably because it’s not, but it’s definitely a big difference between here and Nebraska. Mainly because I lived on or right next to campus all four years of school, so I generally just jumped out of bed 15 minutes before class/work/rehearsal and made it on time. I mean yeah, I still wake up 15 minutes before I have to be out the door, but then I spend 26-42 minutes navigating a variety of public transportation vehicles.
You may think that’s a weirdly specific range of time, but because I have nothing better to do, I time my commute every day, and that’s the range I’ve gone through so far. It all depends on how long I wait for the bus, how fast the bus goes, how long I have to wait for the 2/3 train, whether that’s delayed and how long I have to wait to transfer to the 1.
That sounds like a lot when I put it like that, but it’s really not that bad. Yeah, living on the upper east side and working on the lower west side wasn’t my best idea, but I like the ~ half hour I have to nap, judge people and/or listen to music or podcasts.
Someone told me people who don’t wear headphones on the subway are probably sociopaths, so I try my best to listen to something every day because I might be certainly am not a sociopath.
Michael Clinch once described my taste in music as “showtunes and girl power music,” which pretty much describes the two playlists I alternate between. One is essentially the entire Mean Girls musical album plus songs I think will wake me up, and the other is… idk, girl power music? Sometimes I also listen to Ben’s Bathroom Metal playlist because I think it has a funny name and he likes better music than I do. Enjoy.
As for podcasts, they’re still not reeeeeally my thing because I’m never in the right mood on my commute to actually pay attention to what I’m listening to. That said, U Up? by Betches is so entertaining, especially if you’re a single girl trying to figure out how dating works. The only downside is that I laugh a lot while listening to this, and I don’t like to smile on the subway. Wouldn’t want people to think I’m nice or anything.
The other podcast I recently listened to and am obsessed with is called 36 Questions, and it’s a MUSICAL performed only through audio. Tysm to my roommate Emily for making me aware of this podcast's existence. There are only three episodes, each less than an hour long, and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever heard. I can’t stop listening to the music. Life changing. I want to write a podcast musical.
Moving on.
The last, and possibly most important, part of my commute is getting Starbucks. I have a pretty flexible start time at work, but I don’t like to show up later than 9:30. If I get off the subway before 9:17, I order Starbs on my phone so it’s ready when I get there. If I get there too late, I save time and money by drinking the free pop or coffee in my office and eating free cereal. Being late is actually better for my wallet.
Then I, ya know, work all day before repeating the same process in reverse, stretching out my time on the subway as long as possible to delay climbing up my five flights of stairs. Two months in and I am definitely not used to it yet.
Although I miss Patricia (my car) and being able to walk anywhere I could possibly want to go in 10 minutes or less, I know I’m incapable of driving here and I really don’t mind the subway unless the AC is broken.
So there you have it. The ins and outs of my journey to work each morning. Someday I’ll start sharing stories about all of the dogs and children I befriend on my way home every evening. I hope. Thanks to the 14 of you who made it to the end of this, I really appreciate everyone who spends more than 3.7 seconds on my website (totally fake statistics pulled from my totally real Google Analytics page I check every day). Bye, friends (and not-friends)!