My 2 Minuets Wait For The 6 Train

It was 8 or 9pm on a some-kind-of-a-week-night in November, 2019, when I entered the 6 train subway station on 28th street going downtown. It was the night of a 12 hour day I spent at 120 Madison Ave, which was the location of the acting school I was attending. If you've never been to acting school, it's like being in the army, only no chairs and they sing Sondheim. My kind of place. It was a long day, and I just wanted to go home.

I remember being occupied by many things that day. Timely everyday manners filled my headspace as I was approaching the subway station entrance. It was a confusing time in my life, in a very good way. I was perusing what I loved but working non-stop at it, keeping a halftime side job, while simultaneously just starting a new romantic relationship.

Frankly, the latter was the main thing on my mind. Back than I had just started dating my current boyfriend, and the butterflies in the stomach kind of feeling of a new love was almost constant at that time. We were going home together on the subway almost every night, but this some-kind-of-a-week-night he needed to go home and pack some things, and we said we'd meet later at my place in Brooklyn. So that night, I rode alone.

Anyway, as I go down the stairs daydreaming, walking into the station with it's familiar stink and uncomfortable warmth, something was wrong. The only thing I heard was a man faintly shouting in the distance, and aside from that the station was quiet, quieter then usual.

I pass the railing brushing it off like a true New Yorker, thinking it's probably just one of city's famous disturbed homeless people, but as I walk onto the platform I knew something wasn't right. The New York subway crowd, which is usually unfazed by those kind of things, was behaving strangely. Instead of meaningless chatter, everyone's attention was directed towards one specific thing in the far back of the station. There was a feeling in the air. Even before I saw what was going on, I knew something was happening just from the tension in the atmosphere.

I saw the people were mainly gathered at one half of the block-long station, and most of them had their phones out. I am a curious cat, and I wanted to see what it was all about. As I walked down the station, making my way through the people, the shouts were getting louder and louder. I looked at the faces of the people around me. Some looked scared, some looked embarrassed and worried, and some were laughing. I didn't know what I was expecting to see but one thing was clear, it was serious.

I get to the scene of the event and time stopped as my mind started racing. My heart fell down to my belly as I was looking at this image in front of me. On the tracks was standing a grown man, holding a bottle of liquor, yelling curse words in Spanish to the people standing in front of us at the other side of the station- going uptown. He was clearly drunk, and was standing right on the tracks...

When I got over the split second of initial shock and realized what was going on, time was passing both fast and slow. I knew I had to be quick, and there was no time to question what, how or why, just do. I looked at the little screen hanging from the ceiling that tells me when will the train be arriving- two minuets.

I immediately threw my bag and coat to the side, got on my knees at the edge of the platform, and reached my arm out to try and grab the poor man. He had his back to me, and I was hoping I could at least grab onto his shirt to get his attention, but I was too far away.

I started shouting "Sir! Sir look at me!", but he wouldn't turn around. He just kept shouting at the people on the other end of the station. I right then and there realized that even if he was facing me he would probably not see me, he was too drunk to see or hear anyone. I started to shout even louder, but to no avail. I had to be creative to get his attention. Should I throw something at him to make him turn? But what? One minuet. Holly mother...

I held on to one of the concrete columns with one hand to try and lean a little closer, with no luck. I let one of my legs dangle out above the tracks in an attempt to put my button closer while it was still on the platform, but still couldn't get to him. I had just been through two surgeries on my spine and still actively going to physical therapy, so I wasn't in the best shape. I knew that even if I jumped onto the tracks and somehow magically managed to pull a fully grown drunk adult (bigger and heavier than me) onto the platform, I would not be able to pull myself back up. I just wasn't strong enough.

I became more and more desperate and it could definitely be heard in my voice. The silence that surrounded the station when I arrived had started to lift, and the people around me began to use their voice like me, to try and get the man's attention. The crowd on the other side of the track even waved their hands trying to signal him to come forward, away from the platform and away from the train that was coming his way. The train. 0 minuets.

The train was coming. We could all hear the familiar rumble and the high pitch squeak of the train wheels in the distance, coming closer our way. The shouts all around the station became increasingly louder. I was still on my bottom, one leg dangling in the air out and above the tracks and the other on the platform for stability, reaching out as far as I could. I can almost still feel my fingers stretching out towards the back of this man's white and red striped shirt. If I could just get a little closer...

"LOOK AT ME!" I screamed in horror. My voice was suddenly everywhere, echoing off the concrete walls of the station, filling the space. Everyone heard me, and this time, so did he. He turned around, looked at me, and confirmed what I already knew; he was drunk off his tits. He was not aware of my existence in that moment whatsoever, only that there was a loud noise coming from my direction.

The next sequence of events happened quickly, in the span of one and a half, maybe two seconds. He turned towards me, trying to mumble some incoherent wisdom in what I can only assume was once a language, and waved his hand that was holding a bottle of hard liquor in my way.

Opportunity. While he waved the bottle at me, I immediately grabbed his wrist. For a split second a wave of relief washed over my body, knowing I reached him and now can pull him to the platform, but I was too quick to celebrate. With one quick arm-pull the guy released himself from my grip, and went on to screaming at me in Spanish, taunting me for trying to touch him. I almost lost my balance and could have fallen face down on the tracks if it wasn't for my other arm still holding the concrete column, and I was able to secure myself safely in my place.

A girl next to me then asked if I'm ok and I said I was, even though I just had a mini heart attack and was pretty shaken up from the near death experience. She continued "I'll hold your lower body on the platform so you can reach out to him". I was confused and my heart was racing. I looked into the deep tunnel and could see the green light of the 6 train appearing from the shadows. A loud horn was heard, declaring it's arrival and warning everyone to clear out. There was literally no time. "Ok" I said.

As I am trying to get into position I think to myself "This is not a good idea". I take a look back at the train, it's visible now, but slow. I realize that the driver was notified of the situation, and was trying to slow down the train as much as possible, buying us more time. Everyone around me, including myself, is panicking. The girl and I try to make this work but there was no way we could. My mind is racing with ideas, trying to be brilliant under pressure and drawing a blank. I think to myself "This is it? Is this guy going to die in front of my eyes? Am I going to die trying to save him? Please, someone tell me what to do".

I almost gave up when I heard running steps. Two young man came rushing behind me, pushed me gently to the side and jumped down onto the tracks. They quickly garbed the guy and within seconds, those heroes put him on the platform. One of them stayed behind on the tracks to be able to push him up, then tried to lift himself up to get on the platform, but he was struggling. The train was so close to him at this point. I held my breath watching in horror when in the last second, the other boy helped pulling him up right as the train went by.

I don't have the words to describe what I was feeling in that moment. Everything went quiet. I was in a state of shock. My hands were shaking, and later on my way home my legs were shaking too. As I was picking up my bag and coat I looked around. There were no more phones being held up. I saw people go back to their lives, talking to their friends, going about their night. The guy was still lying on the floor confused and incoherent, and the two boys that saved him were giving their testimony to two policemen who had just arrived at the scene.

The situation was so detached, so normal, and then it hit me. No one else from the crowd of people who were in the station was trying to help him. The station was silent when I arrived, people were only starring and recording on their phones. How is it that only 4 people out of a crowd were actually actively trying to help a man in danger?

When did we become so detached? Who do we have if we don't have each other? How is it that we are not there for one another? With those questions in my head and many more, I entered the 6 train. Yes, the same 6 train that almost hit the drunk guy. I entered the train, and rode home. I do not have the answers to those questions. I don't know.

But one thing I know for sure. I was able to go back home, and tell myself I did everything in my power to help. I know, that I at least tried. And that's all we can do.

As I'm writing this, it is just a few days before Christmas, and a week before the opening of the new year. In the spirit of the holidays and the end of this crazy year, we ought to stop and self reflect. Both in the individual level and in the communal level. Now, more than ever, I believe there is a lesson to be learned from this story. Let's all try to be a little like those two heroes that saved a life that some-kind-of-a-week-night. Our actions have power, a lot of it.

No one's perfect, and we might not be able to fix the world with one selfless act alone, but we shouldn’t neglect the compassionate part of ourselves, that’s what makes us human. Kindness isn’t something to preach about, it should just happen. In those special days of the year, the time of coming together with family and loved ones, there is an opportunity for a change. Looking around you and realizing what you can give has the potential to make this world a better place, even just through the small acts of kindness.

Thanks for reading.