J train Wonders

The electronic wave of The XX’s “Intro” makes its way into my ear drums, letting me know its time for me to wake up-6:00 A.M. My whole body aches as I stretch in bed. Maybe I could sleep for a little bit longer? My scrawny body tries to convince my mind that missing one day of school wouldn’t hurt. “Why couldn’t I just have been a bum?” After about 10 minutes of internally fighting with myself, I finally decided it was now or never. Following the daily routine of getting ready, I left my house just in time to catch the J train. This was my favorite part of the morning. The train cart had a maximum of ten people in it –perfect. That was definitely one of the perks of living in the middle of nowhere Woodhaven. I sat at my usual window seat and closed my eyes as I enjoyed the bumpy journey; which for me acted as a mother rocking its baby to sleep. Growing up in New York City, riding on uneven trains was my lullaby; something about familiarity always gave me the best sleep.
“What time is it? SHOW TIME!” My eyes fluttered open to see the street performers blasting their simplistic computer generated music and running all around the train cart doing flips, twists, and all types of foot work. As I was forced to watch them, the only thing I could think about was how dirty they were getting. Brushing all against the poles and train floors, I became disgusted to the point where I could almost smell the dirt being soaked up into their white T-shirts. I quickly looked away and out the window and saw that I was making my way towards civilization. As the J train made its way through “hipster” Brooklyn, it was no longer the nearly empty train that I first entered. It was packed with ironic looking hipsters and their guitars, suitcases, and of course Trader Joe’s grocery bags. It was 6:30 A.M, I have no idea what Trader Joe’s is open at that time but I’m sure he found it.
As the train approached onto Marcy, I looked for a way to see the view through the cracks of people’s bodies. Right above the head of a balding man I saw the most breathtaking view that made waking up in the morning worth it. Going over the Williamsburg Bridge is the best part of the J train because the New York City skyline looks different everyday; but it takes your breath away every time just the same.
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As I eventually make my way onto the 6 train, I have to go through socially acceptable rape because that’s what it’s called when everyone is getting groped in every which direction without being able to do anything about it. While walking down the 3rd floor bridge in Hunter College, I feel like a celebrity for about 10 seconds because everyone watches everyone on the bridge. Finally making my way to class the countdown to see the view again begins.

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