Commuter-Pane

Every morning I take the LIRR to NYC. As a seasoned commuter I have honed many talents. I can now fall asleep anywhere/anytime. I have learned to pick out creepy commuters and know how to avoid eye contact like the dickens. I can read my book while listening to Nano and tapping my foot to the beat, pass my train ticket to the conductor all while balancing a cup of coffee on my knee. These, and countless other abilities are key signs of people that have been commuting for quite some time and know the ways of a commuter as if we've written a book about it.

But one thing I do that is not a-typical of a commuter is that some mornings all I want to do is just stare out the window and watch the world go by. I never tire of watching my surroundings. I am still the type of person that gets out of the subway and looks up! What a concept! But it is so great to me, every day, to see the world like I am seeing it for the first time. And every day, I discover something completely new, which is such a great pay-off! In my opinion, New Yorkers don't look up nearly enough. They characterize that action as something a tourist would do. So, let me be a tourist in this great city I call home, because I can live here for the rest of my life and still discover something completely new and different every single day!

Today, while I was staring out of the window of the train this morning, trying not to seem like I was staring at other commuters, my eyes came to rest on the four red and white striped smoke-stacks of a power plant in Queens. I know this power plant quite well because my dad deals with it as part of his job. For years and years growing up, I would hear stories of all the different projects he had going on in this power plant to update it, make it more efficient, fix whatever gets busted, etc. I pass by this power plant on the train every morning, so what makes this morning any different? This morning is the first time I have actually noticed emissions from one of the stacks! I know it has been functional for years, but I have never seen it in action, so to speak. And it may seem like such a silly little thing, but this power plant is pivotal in the energy provided to most of Queens and parts of Brooklyn. As the train passed by and I stared at those emissions, my heart swelled with pride as I thought to myself my dad helped make that possible!