Wednesday morning, on the subway, during rush hour, a mom sat across from me with her kid on her lap.  A man who I assumed was the father sat next to them.  The car was packed with people sitting and standing.  As the train made its stops, the mom read a book — Harry Potter, aloud, to her son who must have been about five years old (No more than six).  Despite the noise of the traveling train, her voice could be heard in my section of the train.   I guess it was a nice idea that she was reading to her kid but it was also annoying to me because I was forced to listen to a Harry Potter story (I think I’m one of the few people who have never read the books or seen the movies, by the way).   I’m sure other passengers were annoyed, too.  However no one protested.  We all tried to ignore the mother and son, who would occasionally stop her to ask a question about the story.  Everyone tried to concentrate on what they were doing on the train — like one passenger who seemed overly absorbed in his New York Times paper.   Another passenger turned up her iPod, I tried to concentrate on my own book.  Soon it became quieter when the mother, father and son reached their stop and got off the train.  Yay!  Life on a NYC subway.

This mosaic wall  at the Houston St. station is nicer to look at than staring at the subway tracks while waiting for the train.  The station was renovated in 1994. The art work is by Deborah Brown and entitled Platform Diving.  It is an interpretation of the question, "What kind of subway would sea creatures use?"

Paz