Subway Bob-n-Weave

People amuse me. At least once every day (except maybe a Saturday or Sunday here or there) I stand on an El platform awaiting a train. Like everyone else, I generally orient my body toward the expected train. Last week, while following this daily ritual, the familiar bob and weave of impatient bodies struck a funny bone inside me. I stopped watching for the train, and focused on the entertaining movements playing out in front of me.

I grinned as I watched my fellow commuters repeatedly bending their bodies forward to look for the train, as though their visible impatience would make it come faster. They reminded me of a whack-a-mole arcade game. Their movements were as futile and as funny as the electronic moles bobbing up and down while you stand there with your padded mallet. You might not know which one was going to pop up next, but you could be sure that one of them would.

Just as the moles speed up the longer you play, at rush hour I noticed the tempo of bobbing heads became exacerbated by the anticipation of dinner and evening plans. With growing impatience fueling their movements, the moles emerged from the mass of commuters with increasing rapidity. Yesterday, I watched a woman ignore the conversation she was having with her girlfriend at least seven times in a minute while she turned around, bent forward to peer up the tunnel, and then retracted with disappointment when she saw no train lights. Either the girl with whom she was speaking was exceptionally boring, or she felt that the train would sense her impatience if she exhibited it enough times.

Of course, I do the bob and weave, too. But I'd never really stopped to watch the action, and the futility of it had never seemed as palpable or hilarious as it did a few days ago. I could envision the entire scene playing out to a sprightly classical score, each head poking out to the rhythm. I almost busted out laughing at that thought right there in the subway. Sometimes ordinary things just seem so funny. I enjoy finding the humor in minutiae.