Thursday, September 18, 2008

Dealing With It

Mr. Soumare was dressed neatly in khaki pants and a uniform shirt with his first name – Mamadou – embroidered on the left chest. He wore a blue bow tie and a broad smile that invited questions on the 2 train this morning.

“Is this train running local?” asked a man getting on at 72nd Street.

“It has been so far,” Mr. Soumare answered.

“Why isn’t it running express?” the man demanded.

“I’m not sure,” Mr. Soumare said. “I just ride here.”

The man laughed and stepped off the train.

“I guess he’s in a big rush,” Mr. Soumare said.

“Why don’t you switch to an express?” someone asked.

“I deal with what I’m given,” Mr. Soumare explained. “I stick with express trains that run local and I look forward to tomorrow if the Yankees don’t win today.”

Mr. Soumare smiled.

“Remember the guy at 72nd Street who was in such a big hurry?” he asked. “I’m sure to be downtown before he is.”

2 comments:

Pete said...

Sounds good to me. Rewards come to those who stick with it.

JoeyBoy said...

I probably would have tried for an express, but he is right. That never works.