Buses, Plays, & Subway Rats

Week Ending Sept. 26, 2010

This week I saw my first subway rat.  I have been told the subways are full of rats and no doubt this is true, but I had never actually seen one, until last Friday afternoon.  I was waiting for the 1 train at Times Square, on my way to the Manhattan Temple, when I saw it down on the tracks scrounging for food.   It did not look so bad down there all by it self, but if there were more than one, or if they were up on my level, it would be very unnerving.  Thursday evening, as we were traveling back from seeing an off Broadway play called, The 39 Steps, (a spin-off of an Alfred Hitchcock mystery/thriller that was very enjoyable) our friend, Gwen Hagland, did see a rat up where we were standing waiting for a train.  But by the time I turned around to look, it was gone.  (Gratefully)

Another adventure for me last week was to ride the Q60 bus all by myself to the Queens Stake Center building at Woodside at night.  This is the same building Dad has his office in and it is also where he teaches an institute class on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  I thought it could not be very difficult to ride the bus straight up Queens Blvd. and get off a few blocks from Dad’s building.  Nevertheless, the bus was late, it grew dark, and I was nervous.  New Yorkers can be vocally impatient with people who do not stand in line the correct New York way, and since I did not understand the “bus etiquette” rules, I did not want to give cause for someone to say something rude.  Signs on the bus actually tell the passengers to enter the front door and exit the back door and the front seats are saved for the elder or handicapped.  But people pile out both doors or sometimes the back door does not seem to open and everyone comes out the front.  Not knowing if the back door would open when I wanted to get off, I worked my way to the front so that I could get off at the stop I wanted.  Later, I asked Anita, one of Dad’s students, how it was supposed to work. She told me to push the “Stop Wanted” button the stop before I wanted to get off and when the green lights lit up around the back door, to push it open.  She also told me that buses do not have to stop at every stop if there is no one waiting at the stop to get on and if the “stop wanted” button has not been pushed. I am thinking about figuring out what buses I could ride to go to the fabric store and back, so this is very helpful information to have. 

Stan & I with our friends, Howard & Gwen Haglund.