A near miss

Ok i'm sure you're all really sick of reading about how perfect and wonderful new york is. So just to include a little playful NYC bashing I'm going to explain what happened to me on the way back from work today.
Just a note that this blog does include some less then tasteful descriptions. Be advised. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

My normal commute is about 40-50 minutes from the door of my work to my doorstep at home. This breaks down into about 10 minutes of walking and 30 minutes on the subway, so it's pretty easy and I get a lot of reading done on my commute. I can't complain about that. However New York has one GIANT flaw. There are NO NONE ZILCH ZERO public bathrooms! It's ridiculous.

So anyway my story. I leave work, walk to the subway, hope on my train (the 6) headed uptown and away we go. About 3 or 4 stops down the line I suddenly come down with a really strong urge to go no. two. There's no kidding I have a pretty regular system (yeah I'm not likely to get colon cancer!!)

I'm debating in my head how long can I last before I have an accident right there on the subway. There are tons of public safety announcements made constantly, about not falling off the platform, being lost in the gap, not holding on to the handrail etc.... But there is not one single public safety campaign about making sure you don't ruin yourself on the subway. In my view, who cares if you fall, just get up or get a new hip, but taking a leak or dump on yourself could ruin your entire week!

So here I am thinking how long can I last.... when I decide "fuck this, I'll just get off at grand central station and use a bathroom there". GC was only 2 stops away, NBD. But just before the stop, the subway car stops. There is a problem. We sit, just seconds away from the platform. For TEN MINUTES!

Ten minutes later (i'm dying by now) I get off the train and hurry to the nearest bathroom. There is a line longer then pete to get into the bathroom. So I hurry to the other bathroom. It's closed! I stand looking at the men's bathroom for five minutes, debating what to do. Wait in the long line with the ladies or just suck it up.

What I finally ended up doing is irrelavent, because I made it home safely and without an accident. But that's not the point. The real point is that NYC needs public bathrooms and they need them now.

It's change we need, it's change we can trust and change we can believe in.