Sleepy Realizations.

A bitter day in 2008. R Train. Effing late.

My neck started to hurt as both my head and my novel bobbed with exhaustion. As I cursed the NYC transit system for making MY train a local one, I saw something that confused me. Directly to my left was an entire pack of gum, each piece unwrapped and carelessly strewn about the train floor. The peculiarity of the wasted gum made me uncomfortable, like seeing fish out of water, or something extravagant, wrinkled. It brought me to the entrance of a place that I hadn’t been before.

It was then that I began to try to imagine how the poor little never-been-chewed victims had gotten this far. I mean, someone bought them. Someone thought about the flavor, the brand, which pack to grab… and cared enough about these little guys to lug them onto public transportation. So what happened between now and then? What on earth could this crime scene have looked like at its prime? It then occurs to me that it must have been my ex-girlfriend who’s done this. It’s so obvious! Only she knows true wastefulness… True failure to appreciate…anything worth appreciating…in a way that’s meaningful.

Ugh.

Ok, in the midst of my mini-commuter-spearmint-meltdown I became empowered and realized that… A) There are lots of crazies out there. B) TONS of them. C) I date most of them. And D) Most importantly, there’s a pack of gum in all of our pockets. It’s up to us who we waste it on.