DAY 1

Riding the A train is a unique experience. The lovable eighth avenue express line operates between 207th Street in Inwood and Far Rockaway, Queens or Lefferts Boulevard, Queens. It travels the longest distance of all the trains: 31 miles. So, in short, a lot of shit can happen. For example, today there was a foul-odored person (FOP) in my train car. On the foul-odor scale it was a category 3. Not too bad, but too pungent to ignore. One of my fellow strap hangers, a man dressed in a suit, opened his large, leather briefcase and pulled out a can of air freshener. He sprayed the air intensely for about five seconds. Thereafter, he sprayed a small puff every five minutes. Yes, like one of those automatic bathroom air fresheners. Rude, yes. But many passengers were pretty happy about it. MTA-Note: Install wall-mounted air fresheners in each car. (Possibly also baking soda. And those silica gel things.)