Friday, December 05, 2003
The Subway Game
Before the kids, back when we had a life, we would go out to see bands in the Village or attend parties out in Brooklyn. I live way up on the A train line at the 181st Street stop. The A train goes local after 11:00 which means that you can wait for 20 or 30 minutes to get on the train and then hit every stop along the West Side. 72. 81. 86. Between the long wait and the ride, it could take us almost two hours to get home from a party in Park Slope.
We would bide our time on the train platform by playing a game with the subway map. You link up station names to make a person's name and then provide a fitting character description. Examples:
Winthorp Hewes Whitehall -- A Park Avenue retired banking mogul. Smokes cigars at the Harvard Club. Secretly tries on wife's shoes.
Spring and Bay Halsey -- Twins with hippie parents who braid their hand with colorful strings and take them to Dead concerts. Been a week since the last bath.
Beverley Church -- A middle aged woman with a smart mouth. Likes bingo and Newport lights.
Sutter Simpson -- Likes guns. Hates varmints and those stinkin' liberals.
Vernon Jackson -- A doorman for a building in Queens. Likes jazz and checkers.
UPDATE: Get the London perspective from Transport Blog. And the Chicago angle from Stephen Karlson.
Before the kids, back when we had a life, we would go out to see bands in the Village or attend parties out in Brooklyn. I live way up on the A train line at the 181st Street stop. The A train goes local after 11:00 which means that you can wait for 20 or 30 minutes to get on the train and then hit every stop along the West Side. 72. 81. 86. Between the long wait and the ride, it could take us almost two hours to get home from a party in Park Slope.
We would bide our time on the train platform by playing a game with the subway map. You link up station names to make a person's name and then provide a fitting character description. Examples:
Winthorp Hewes Whitehall -- A Park Avenue retired banking mogul. Smokes cigars at the Harvard Club. Secretly tries on wife's shoes.
Spring and Bay Halsey -- Twins with hippie parents who braid their hand with colorful strings and take them to Dead concerts. Been a week since the last bath.
Beverley Church -- A middle aged woman with a smart mouth. Likes bingo and Newport lights.
Sutter Simpson -- Likes guns. Hates varmints and those stinkin' liberals.
Vernon Jackson -- A doorman for a building in Queens. Likes jazz and checkers.
UPDATE: Get the London perspective from Transport Blog. And the Chicago angle from Stephen Karlson.
