Sleepy

I drive a lot more now than I used to. I was driving somewhere a few days ago and I said something to my wife and I turned and noticed that she was sleeping. You don't know how much I envy her that. When I was primarily a passenger in other people's cars.. and especially on public transportation,I could and would nod off as soon as the car, train, bus or trolley started rolling...You might be surprised, but that was some of the most comfortable sleep of my life..

I took the trolley into town for a minute today... This guy was sitting next to me calling hogs , Jesus and just about everybody else you can think of to call... At first it was amusing... then the longer we rode... the louder he got and the more he attracted attention. He got so loud that i eventually got up and moved. These teenagers apparently thought that it would be funny to put a rolled up newspaper under the man's arm. They did and he still didn't budge. They put an empty soda can in his hands and he continued to snore even louder... Poor guy, he had probably worked all afternoon long... He was tired. It's been raining here in Philly for most of the week and between the rain and the humidity... it's a perfect recipe for , well, sleep. He never woke up and he was still sleeping when I got off the trolley... Those kids were still laughing and piling junk around him in his seat too!

I don't think I have ever slept that soundly ,but I have slept hard before on the subway. In Philadelphia, Our elevated train/subway runs a good twenty two miles from The Frankford station in the "Great Northeast" as they call it, through Center City (The equivalent of downtown Manhattan, I guess.) through University City and West Philly all the way to the end of the line ,which is actually in Upper Darby..right outside of the city.

I had a night job once in which I got off at 2:00 am in the morning. It was a hot steamy summer night... I was good and tired...I got on the subway at 8th and Market. My destination was 56th and Market. (The train comes up out of the subway and elevates at 40th street...The click clack of the train and the loud roar of the train is enough to wake the dead... I think I woke up for a minute and remembered being on 46th Street... but after that..I fell asleep and when I woke up I was at 69th Street... The end of the line. The guy driving the train was walking through the cars and told me to wake up and to get off the train... I did and got on the train headed towards 56th Street..Which was only five stops away.

I must have fallen asleep again because when I woke up this time...the train station said Tioga!! I had fallen asleep ,missed my stop, rode all the way back through the subway past 8th and Market, come out of the subway in North Philly (They call it "Northern Liberties" now and rode into Kensington. Seeing the doors close and seeing that sign that said "Tioga" scared me... because now ,I was the only Black person on the train...There was two Puerto Ricans and a couple of white teenagers...

I fell asleep again and when I woke up... I was in Frankford... It was close to four in the morning. I got off and walked down into the street. There was a McDonald's across the street from the El Station... I had a Big Mac , some Fries and a Milk Shake... I got back on the El and this time I stayed awake..Until we got to around 34th street... then... you guessed it... I fell asleep again... When I woke up... I was at 56th Street, but the doors were closing. I got off at the next stop. 60th Street. My Aunt Jean lived about a block from the station at the time and I thought about going over there to crash..but thought better of it... For one thing it was 5:30 in the morning... And I didn't want her to call my mother in New Jersey and tell her that I was out in the street at this time in the morning. I was 25 at the time, but such was the respect (fear rather) for my mom's wrath... You just had to know her... take my word for it.

I walked to 60th and Haverford and caught a bus... The 46. This bus would take me to the corner of my street and I could walk the rest of the way to my house , which was four blocks away. Fell asleep again... Woke up on Master Street... One block shy of where I lived. This time I walked the rest of the way home and went straight to bed... and slept good for many hours.

That was the worse time I'd ever had with falling asleep while riding, but not the last. A few years ago, I got on the 15 trolley at 63rd and Girard... was only going to 56th and Girard..fell asleep and woke up in Port Richmond... the whitest part of town. There was one Black guy in sight... a cop and he was catching the fastest thing smoking out of there , going in the opposite direction. I followed him. Stayed awake the entire ride home this time... No dozing off.

That's why I didn't make fun of that brother on the train yesterday... He was sleeping hard, it was hot, muggy and wet...I perfectly understood.