On Friday night, Eric and I went to James’s house to watch football and play drinking games. On the subway ride there, we dashed from the C (local) to the A (express) across the platform. Eric made it through before me, though, and without the usual “Stand clear of the closing doors, please,” they slid shut on me. Normally, too, they open up once something obstructs them, but we must have had a sadistic subway driver b/c the doors only got tighter as I struggled. Eric had to help pull them apart for me to get on.



Three people watched the scene and talked about it for the next 30 blocks. “Ladies always go first!” the woman said. “If that was my man, I’d have cussed ‘im out.” The two men, though, backed Eric up. “They gotta keep up, man!”

I consider myself warned.