Take Me Higher

What the…?” I mumbled to myself. My eyes were transfixed on the man riding between the subway cars. Not only is riding between subway cars illegal, it is also really, really stupid. Many people (I don’t know exactly how many, but many people…) have slipped and been pulled under the train. So, I watched in wide-eyed amazement as this moron stood between the cars rummaging through his backpack, adjusting his clothes, and… rolling a joint. “What the…?” I asked again. I looked around the train to see if anyone else was witnessing this craziness (it’s always nice to share a look with a stranger when you’ve both seen something mind-boggling – sometimes both of you even break into that slow headshake, which of course, only makes the two of you feel closer). I digress; I looked around expecting to see another “what the” expression plastered on someone else’s face, but found none.

Disappointed, I turned back to the man to see if he had completed his little… um… project. I really don’t know what I expected, but my jaw fell to the floor when I saw a puff of smoke emerge from between his lips. “This crazy man is smoking a joint,” I whispered, and then quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed that I was talking to myself. I was in the clear. Whew!

My eyes were locked in position as I nervously felt the train slow to a stop. Once we were in the station, surely he’d put out his joint and come back inside the train. No, the crazy man stayed between the cars casually smoking his joint as people exited and boarded the train. Was no one else really seeing this!!???

After five minutes of non-blinking staring, the man tossed his joint onto the tracks, entered the next car, and trotted off the train. I rubbed my itchy eyes (as the apparently I’m allergic to smell of marijuana - damn).

The whole thing kind of reminded me of that segment in Twilight Zone: The Movie when the guy sees the monster on the wing of the plane. He tries to let everybody know, but no one else can see it besides him, and in the end, the plane crashes. Ok, well, it’s not exactly the same situation, but I do wish that other people had seen that guy. At least then I wouldn’t feel like the girl who cried pothead.