Its colder than a politician's heart in New York these days. It was 13 degrees last night, warming to 19 degrees tonight. Doctor Gore, explain this to me.
I was riding the N train home tonight, and a group of about 30 teenagers, and two women, boarded the train. As the train crawled up the Manhattan Bridge,to Brooklyn, I saw some puzzled looks, and one of them said "we're going the wrong way".
My part time job is guide to lost subway riders. I told her that she only needed to get off at the next stop (DeKalb Avenue), cross to the other platform, and take the same N train back to their destination, Manhattan's 49th Street.
The accent sounded English to my American ear. I asked where they were from, and she said Wales. Then I noticed that they were speaking, alternately, in English and Welsh, of all things. Welsh is not heard every day on the N train.
The kids were high-spirited and a little loud. The older of the two women got up, and in a soft voice, said "Could you please stop making that noise. There are members of the public here and you're frightening them!! And, without any protest, these kids, who really weren't bothering a soul, became dead silent.
They trooped off onto the platform at DeKalb, to head back to Manhattan and a late dinner. Have fun, guys.
2 comments:
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parnips
I used to hear the occasional conversation in Irish on the subway when I lived in New York. My mother told me that when she and her sister were new arrivals in New York that they'd use Irish to talk about other people on the train. They got in trouble one day when some old guy they were laughing at announced to them that he was a linguist and spoke perfect Irish.
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