They are handing out free gum samples at the entrances to the subway today.  At first, it’s like “Ooo…free goodies!”  Then you realize, “Wait, am I taking candy from a stranger?”

Stride Gum.  Flavor:  Winterblue.  This is the most ghetto looking gum packaging I’ve seen.  Honestly, I thought it might be a gag.  It was a 4 piece sample pack.  The girl handing them out gave me 3 packs with the rubber band still around them.  I think she was just trying to unload here quota so she could get the hell out of there.

Anyway, like I said, pretty fake looking packaging.  However, when you look at the Stride gum website, it’s pretty good!  I mean their site is really interactive.  Has sort of a movie/secret laboratory thing going on.

The slogan is, “Ridiculously long lasting flavor,” or something like that.  Maybe that’s why they only give you 4 pieces…they might last all week.

So anyway, now I’m saddled with a product that I’m not sure if I should be enjoying or not.  Turns out, the gum is legit.  But it’s just handed to you by a complete stranger standing at the entrance to the subway.  Who the hell knows what’s really in the package.  Of course, that didn’t seem to stop many people.  There they all are, chomping away as they wait for the train.

Am I the only one that’s a little freaked by eating something like that?  Then again, I guess getting treats from strangers is the whole basis of Halloween.

I’m standing near the tallest man I have ever seen! How he rides the train is amazing to me.

He’s so tall that his shoulders touch the ceiling just inside the doors. He doesn’t just have to bend is neck a little to avoid hitting his head. He has to all out bend over!

On this kind of train, the ceiling is about 8 inches lower where the doors are. One you move into the middle of the isles, it is higher. So he has to stand there. Even then, he isn’t missing hitting his head by much.

Getting on to this train, he looks like a grown-up trying to climb into the jungle gym at McDonalds. The door clearance is even lower than the ceiling inside.

It must be nuts seeing him go through the turnstile. The bar must hit him in the knees!

Live from the subway, back to you in studio… .

This weekend, New Yorkers saw their first run of hot weather. It wasn’t even that hot, but it was enough to break a good sweat.

It makes SUBWAYblogger dread the first true heatwave. You know it’s coming, and it just sucks to think about it mostly because of the dreadful heat in the subway.

The only nice thing about the subway heat is that it drives most of the homeless guys out of the subway. It is simply to damn hot to make the express platform your livingroom. So, they tend to head for street level.

Consequently, the smell of feet and human crap goes down. So do the obnoxious catcalls by the drunk, perverted ones.

Then again, the unfortunate part is that they end up wandering your neighborhood. They take up all the nice park benches. They root through your trash more.

Here’s hoping that the city finally steps up to address the subway homeless problem. All the local papers keep running articles about how the problem keeps getting worse. Mabye City Hall will finally listen? Doubt it.

After all, we are the only country in the world capable of having over weight homeless people.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

No, there isn’t a “Village People” convention in town. It’s fleet week. Sailors and Navy staffers are all over midtown this week.

Usually, as the week goes on, the crew begins to spread out more and more. You’ll end up finding them in the subway headed for the far most reaches of the island.

One nice thing is that it is Memorial Day Weekend. Already, the morning and afternoon commutes are getting easier as people have already left the city for the weekend.

This morning, the train was not at all crowded. There were even seats. So I guess there will be even fewer 9 to 5ers on the train tomorrow (Friday).

Live from the subway, back to you in studio… .

Winner…Jameson whiskey. Have you seen this campaign? It is by far my favorite in a long time.

Finally, a campaign with a good sense of humor specifically targeted at subway riders. Here’s some favorite quotes…

Why people enjoy Jameson

“Maybe because ‘Next round on me’ is easier to understand than ‘stanclearclosindoor’.”

“Maybe people like Jameson because the ads give you something to stare at when you don’t know where to look.”

“Maybe because whiskey is the nectar of the gods. Right after wine and milk and maybe honey.”

There’s plenty more too. Each one gave me a little laugh. I especially like the one that says “stanclearclosindoor.” They really spelled it that way too.

Bravo.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio… .

Ever been on a train where someone pulled the emergency brake? It SUUUUUUCKS.

My train had the brake pulled this morning. Luckily, I was up and out very early this morning, so I don’t think there will be much of an impact on the overall line.

Anyway, we were stopped at the station when it was pulled. The first order of business is that the train crew has to find out what happened. They know the brake has been pulled, but not why. I have a feeling on these older trains that they can’t tell which car without checking each one.

So they start checking car by car. Turns out it was some punk that pulled it and ran. No real emergency. However, the police still need to come. Now you can see how the time starts ticking away.

Also, other MTA workers have to come inspect the car. Apparently, it isn’t as easy as just taking off the E-brake and moving on. It’s a whole complicated process to rearm the emergency brake so that the train can keep moving.

Obviously, that train is no longer an option for now. People now are scrambling to figure out an alternative. Trains are bypassing this stop since this train is suck here. So it is time to hoof it to the nearest express stop, which is not in the same direction. Great.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

As bad as your over crowded train ride was this morning, it could have gotten a lot worse.  For example, you could have gotten off the subway and fell through a utility grate in the sidewalk!

Just climb back out, right?  Not so much.  Those things are deep!  And, factor in that no one is coming in to help you out until ConEd gets there to turn off the power.  A wonderful start to your morning.

This Reebok (or Rbk as they are now going with) shoes subway campaign is starting to bug me.

They are using this “Run easy” slogan now. Seriously? Isn’t the point of running to NOT run easy? Last I heard, runners wanted to break a sweat.

One of the signs is particularly obnoxious. It says, “Stop and smell the garbage. Run easy.” Perhaps by “garbage” they mean the quality of their product. Surely they aren’t taking a jab at the home city of their customers.

Here’s another. “A 10 minute mile is just as far as a 6 minute mile. Run easy.” Why not just say screw the mile, get a cab. Cab easy.

It sounds like they are trying to promote being slow. Maybe its a ploy for a whole other shoe product. They are trying to fatten us up so that we have to buy their velcro sneakers when we are too fat to reach our shoelaces.

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…

There’s something going on down here this afternoon. There’s cops stationed on both sides of the platform at just about every stop on my line.

There must be some sort of elevated threat level. Maybe it is a drill or something.

Whatever it is, there’s definately more police movement in the system for some reason.

Anyone know why?

Live from the subway, back to you in studio…