My Love/Hate Relationship with the Subway

Sometimes I have trouble sleeping.  It's like I can't make my brain stop-- I can't just relax and slip into blissful slumber.  Instead I have hundreds of thoughts racing thru my mind.  Tonight I've decided to silence my mind a bit by blogging.

This evening's entry is about the subway system in my home city of  New York.  You see, even though I'm miles away working, my heart and my mind are both in the big Apple.  So maybe if I blog about NYC I'll be able to get it off of my mind and I'll fall asleep.  We'll see.

So anyway, I kind of hate the subway.  I hate it for lots of reasons like:

• It's crowded.
• It often makes me motion sick and/or dizzy.  This is especially true if I'm not facing forward or if I try to read.  
• The trains & stations are usually too hot or too cold.  
• It's dirty, smelly, and run down.  Many stations have pealing paint, water damaged tile, etc. 
• There are few bathrooms in the stations and most of the ones they exist are pad locked and no longer for public use.  
• "PLEASE SWIPE AGAIN"
• Buskers, musicians, pan handlers, homeless people--- basically anyone who want's money is in my way.  
• It's full of rude people who take up more than one seat, clip their nails, litter, talk LOUDLY on their phones, etc.  
• The terrible subway "art". 

On the other hand, there are reasons to like the Subway as well.  These include things like:

• It gets me where I need to go.
• It allows me to avoid driving in NYC traffic. 
• I can wear a Star Trek costume on my way to/from an event (like the movie premier) and no one cares. At all. 
• It gives me a chance to listen to podcasts on my iPod.
• You can actually get in some good people watching.
• It's better for the environment than cars!  

So, in conclusion, do I like the Subway?  Not really- but its not all bad.  I am guilty of letting a bad subway experience ruin my day, however, and that's just silly.  I need to work on that. 

What do you think of the subway?