We Lack a Word

BLIND AT 4, PART I - WAITING FOR THE SUBWAY

There was a young tanned girl wearing a short white jacket, faded blue jeans and platform shoes. Her lips were painted bright red and her blonde hair was covered by a blue-green, silk scarf. She was holding a little boys hand as together they passed through the turnstile. A white shag coat and a blue, nylon snowsuit. She pulled the collar closer to her neck.

Beside me sat an old woman with a passion for speech that appeared lost without an open ear. Sitting, hands clenched, covered evenly in white cotton gloves. The green fox-collared coat ran around her once and blended in with the hard bench she was sitting on. She hung a gold butterfly broach from her pancake brown hat, perhaps a reflection of her inner state of mind. Her dark glasses sat on the bridge of her nose waiting for a river to be built. Her short, sharp, black rubber boots lifted themselves when two old friends suddenly arrived.

"Ooooohhh yah! Well that's simply marvelous. I had to meet my daughter, you see... . . . at the subway? "

"Uh huh, that's right I..."

"Well yes those darn things don't work properly and..."

"I don't see how a person my age could ever walk up all those stairs at York Mills."

"Well I have friends in New Brunswick and they tell me that it's the same thing down...."

"...Yes! Those dubs! ...and with all those other men striking all the time..."

"And its no wonder our food prices keep going up..."

"Yes well my son works for that outfit.... "

"Uh huh! ..."

"They're not quite as bad as the rest of the... "

"I understand. ...and he should be getting paid more. Well after all he wants to buy a new home in Florida and he said to me the other day. Mom, he said. Now you be sure you don't repeat this...."

"Certainly."

"Sshhhh, well he said that as soon as things...... "

"Ahhhh! It's just awful. Those dizzy strikes!"

"Well don't you think we're all like that...."

"No, there's just no place left. Why the other day I had to get a new pair of brown shoes...yes the suede ones with the matching hat."

"They're lovely. For Church, was it?"

"Yes that's right. Well this young girl who was in there. Why, you'd think she owned the place. There's just no place left where you get good service anymore. That reminds me of the time..."

"By golly, I have to go now. There's my train. Well it was nice talking to you. Take care dear."

"Exactly, exactly."

The women babbled together and sang out their songs, descended the stairs and entered the train.

It is interesting to walk through crowded platforms and realize how many people there are and how many people there are not.