Urban Obstacle Course
Today, I hopped on the train strapped with my gym bag and laptop. Since I’m not one of those people who feels justified taking up two spaces, I slid the laptop under my seat, put the gym bag between my legs, and pulled out a magazine. I started reading a Money magazine article about families of active U.S. Reservists. I became so absorbed with the financial difficulty that these families were facing that I didn’t realize that I was already at my stop. Reactively, I jumped up, dodged incoming commuters, and slipped onto the platform. Just as the doors closed behind me I turned with my gym bag and magazine and realized that I had left my $3700 state-of-the-art laptop under the seat. F*ck….
As the train pulled away I stood there for a second thinking about my options. One. Go into work and explain I lost my computer and need to buy another one…preferably by the end of the day. Two. Save myself the hassle of dealing with my boss and accounting department by replacing the computer out of my own pocket. Three. Retrieve my computer before anyone helps themselves to a $3700 gift that they’ll probably turn around and sell for $500 by meeting the train at the next stop….six blocks away.
Now this would have been the perfect opportunity to use some of those superpowers I’m always talking about. But the reality is….I don’t have any. So, I strapped my gymbag across my chest and started an all-out, O.J. Simpson Hertz commercial sprint for the next station. The subway stairs, commuters, intersections, and other urban obstacles all became a complete blur as all I could think about was shelling out 4 g’s of my hard earned cash. Four near collisions and one cramped-up hamstring later I made it to the next station where I slid through the turnstile and touched three stairs on a fifty step decent. Thanks to the train delays that I’m always complaining about I just made the closing doors. Breathing very heavily, I looked through the crowd of wide-eyed passengers and towards my former seat. There was my computer, sitting right where I left it. Thank God! I quickly claimed it and sat down to catch my breath and I realized that even if I didn’t make it to the stop, I probably still would have got my computer back. The funny way the seated passengers looked at me said one thing. We live in a day and age where people are very hesitant to touch a black case that’s been left unattended on the train.
As the train pulled away I stood there for a second thinking about my options. One. Go into work and explain I lost my computer and need to buy another one…preferably by the end of the day. Two. Save myself the hassle of dealing with my boss and accounting department by replacing the computer out of my own pocket. Three. Retrieve my computer before anyone helps themselves to a $3700 gift that they’ll probably turn around and sell for $500 by meeting the train at the next stop….six blocks away.
Now this would have been the perfect opportunity to use some of those superpowers I’m always talking about. But the reality is….I don’t have any. So, I strapped my gymbag across my chest and started an all-out, O.J. Simpson Hertz commercial sprint for the next station. The subway stairs, commuters, intersections, and other urban obstacles all became a complete blur as all I could think about was shelling out 4 g’s of my hard earned cash. Four near collisions and one cramped-up hamstring later I made it to the next station where I slid through the turnstile and touched three stairs on a fifty step decent. Thanks to the train delays that I’m always complaining about I just made the closing doors. Breathing very heavily, I looked through the crowd of wide-eyed passengers and towards my former seat. There was my computer, sitting right where I left it. Thank God! I quickly claimed it and sat down to catch my breath and I realized that even if I didn’t make it to the stop, I probably still would have got my computer back. The funny way the seated passengers looked at me said one thing. We live in a day and age where people are very hesitant to touch a black case that’s been left unattended on the train.
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