Snax on the Trax

Yesterday before I left the house, I grabbed my camera. Jolee wanted to know why I needed it. How could I explain? Subconsciously, I knew I would need it for something. Something important. Well, sort of.

The photos you see before you now were taken at the 34th Street stop on the local track that hosts the R train and the W train. I generally don't pick up the R here, despite the fact that I ultimately end up on an R. I generally grab an express (N or Q), as I am likely to catch up to another R closer to home.

Down on the tracks, in the middle of the platform, lay the biggest zip-lock bag of Froot Loops I had ever seen. So, what's the big deal? There's always trash on the tracks. This is New York, after all. But I, believe it or not, see more than just the things, but the backstories, the imaginings of how things became what they are. As a parent, who travels on the subways with children, I know the necessity of bringing snacks. In fact, my youngest one, Shayna, has a keen Pavlovian response to subway riding and immediately announces her hunger once we sit on a train.

But this was no snack bag. This was a big, honkin' gallon-size bag of Froot Loops. And I thought it photo-worthy. Imagine the scenarios of how someone might lose a big bag such of this.

I see a child on the platform, waiting with his or her parents for the R train. I see him pulling the snacks out of the diaper bag. I see him hurling the bag onto the tracks, to the sheer horror of the parent(s). I see the other commuters shaking their heads. I see the parent, most likely a mother, shaking with rage, as the child trembles with a mixture of laughter and fear. A train rolls in. A train rolls out. The mother and child have boarded, Brooklyn-bound, as the bag of Froot Loops remains, abandoned on the tracks, a potential sugar high for the rats hiding below.

I might add, while taking these pictures and mulling the Loops, my iPod was cranking out "The Rock" from The Who's Quadrophenia album. The music seemed perfectly subterranean.

I think that cereal was on my mind because of a comment posted yesterday by an anonymous reader, who referred me to the wikipedia entry for Cap'n Crunch. Therefore, I am compelled to refer readers to the entry for Froot Loops. Wikipedia is a neat online resource, which in itself has a unique history. It is an ever-changing web-document, and can contain inaccuracies, if inserted and not corrected by other wikipedia online community members. Check out this great story about wikipedia here from the Villlage Voice.

Anyway, today BillyBlog will get it's 2000th hit. Thanks to all who read! I appreciate your continued interest in my inane and random ramblings!