What the fuck is going on in this city of 15 million? I think back to the hours and hours I have spent on the subway, riding through the urban enigma we call New York; where my experiences have made me question why the hell we choose to live here, and on the contrary, if I could ever live anywhere else?
It was 9:00 on Saturday morning, the 1 train was packed. My car had just surfaced at 125th street, and the sun started pouring in. I always find there to be a remarkable change in atmosphere whenever trains go above ground. People manage to pause their heavily captivating games of Brick-Breaker, Tetris, etc. On this particular day I looked up and saw a dude with bleached white hair and neon green nails walking into the car I was in. He looked me in the eye (a rarity in NYC subway culture) and with a goofy smile asked if I wanted a seat (even though he wasn’t sitting down). I failed to mention that he was decked out in full NASCAR racing gear, with a motorcycle helmet and full pads on. Seeing he was an interesting looking character I responded, "No, but I like your outfit.”
This man, later to be introduced to me as Lou, gave me a wild, slightly intimidating laugh and began explaining that he was a hippie. I began sarcastically explaining how excited I was to finally meet a hippie in real life.
"I like you sister, talking to people on the train, you're hippie too, hippie 2.0!"
What a strange situation to be in, in just a few minutes, I had gone from an average ipod-listening submissive teenager, to a panel member on this super special conference on the classification of contemporary hippies. Our panel was well attended, because although most subway riders are generally aloof, they will stare at weirdoes like me and this dude, especially if a lot of noise is being made. So we continued our discussion, and the people around us kept staring in disbelief.
“So you’re a skater girl, did you see Tony Hawk and Avril Lavigne duke it out on youtube? I heard it was sick!"
I responded to this ludacris question, feeling slightly offended to participate in a conversation involving the name Avril Lavigne:
"What have you been smoking dude!? First off Avril Lavigne has never set foot on a skateboard and second, Tony Hawk? Dude?" To which he responded, "I'm straight edge, sister!"
Eager to find other punks down with straightedgeism, I half screamed, "You know what’s good with Minor Threat?!?!"
And Lou was down, very down, but before getting to an answer the guy to my left perked up and interrupted, "Oh! I know minor threat!" He was about 5` 3,” had a super thick Chinese accent, was wearing all white air force ones, and completely decked out in Giants fan wear. He then proceeded to lecture Hippie Lou and me on the evolution of hardcore music. He knew everything, and had met everyone. This guy was the Asian Encyclopedia of Thrash.
At this point our spectators were enthralled, a cute college girl to my right (later introduced as Katy) was giggling. She turned to me and said, " This is the craziest thing I have ever seen.” An old lady and her cat were sitting next to Lou, and both were obviously thoroughly entertained. Our Panel had now reached 6 members: Hippie Lou, Skater Girl, Peter the Encyclopedia, Katy, The Old Lady, and her Cat.
This panel epitomizes the reason my energy thrives in New York. I typically see the subway as a mirror of our isolated capitalist based lifestyle; where everyone’s agenda includes only themselves, with no concern for their neighbors. Nobody talks to one another, nobody cares about shit. This perception, although often true, is regressive and depressing. How can we engage in a city positively when we approach it with such negative expectations? Often I find that New York City is the kind of place that requires energy in order to live freely. While jobs/schools/ and shopping centers try to suck the life out of us, they haven’t succeeded in killing every expression of vitality. If we want to establish a strong community, the potential is definitely out there. True democracy and liberation cannot be achieved in a state of isolation and the process may just sometimes be hilariously entertaining, we just need to be open and ready to engage with other New Yorkers. In the words of Peter the Encyclopedia, we are “neva to old to thrash.” Keep it real.
by (Gn)Arianna Gil, published in no label zine, spring 2009.
