June 11, 2015

Prey in the Mexican subway One day Julien went on a solo expedition to the Diego Rivera museum in Mexico City, and when he came back, related this story. I was in the subway which was packed as always, and, as always, the temperatures were hovering around a cozy 90°F despite the fans blowing at full speed. A very old Mexican entered the subway, hunched over, a bit overweight, and he used his rounded belly to make a space for himself, the whole train getting just a little more cramped. With one hand he grabbed the door handle, and in the other he was holding a huge strawberry ice cream cone which he was clearly enjoying. The metro came to a stop mid-tunnel where it ended up being stuck for 20 long minutes during which time the train temperatures, warmed by the 100+ passengers, quickly rose to an unbearable level. In an attempt to cool down, people were doing everything possible, trying to find enough room to fan themselves with whatever they could find. In the middle of all this, I realized that half the car was staring at the old Mexican with his refreshing strawberry ice cream; the man probably felt the dozens of envious eyes on him and quickly gobbled up the rest of the ice cream in less than 30 seconds.