Mel’s Show and Tell — Continuity

I do have an update, but I’ve been swamped at work and exhausted otherwise. All is well. Update soon.

I started commuting on the NYC subway at age 14 to go to high school. Since that was over 20 years ago, you could say I’m a seasoned subway rider. Much has changed on the NYC subways, but much has stayed the same. I want to share a rare pleasure of my years of commuting with you all. There is not much that is a pleasure about commuting by subway.

When I was in high school, there was a young man who played violin in the subway station near my high school. He was very good. It was always a pleasure to listen to him amidst the dirty station, and the clanging, screeching trains. He was also pretty damn cute! He always had a smile for everyone, and was so practiced at playing for a moving pedestrian audience, that he could carry on a quick conversation without missing a note on his violin. Impoverished teenager that I was, I still usually found some change for him.

Over the years (decades!!) I have run into him playing at various subway stations. He always seemed to remember me as a longtime listener (of which I’m sure there are very many). But it’s still nice to see his smile of recognition when he sees me. As an adult, I put paper money in his violin case.

For the last few years I have mainly seen him playing in Grand Central Station. In the last few months, as my belly has grown, I’ve seen him on my way to work and stopped to chat a bit. I was running late this morning when I saw him, so we just exchanged some smiles, a wave from me, and a shout out from him as he continued playing seamlessly. As I waddled to my office, I thought I’d like to share James with you all for Show and Tell. So go take a look and listen to his website. BTW, he’s still pretty damn cute!

Don’t forget to check out what the rest of the class is showing!