Mentally mapping trains
Her: Before I buy more KFC can you check the freezer to see if we already have KFC?
Me: Check the freezer?! Baby, all we’re doing is adding to our current KFC stash if there’s *already* KFC in the freezer. That’s like saying, “Hey, before I make more money, check the bank to see if we have money in the bank already.” Do you hear how that sounds?
Her: Someone’s hangry right now.
Me: Clearly!
The kids are both back for school to start next week. While they’re growing up quickly, we’re still not ready to let either of them take the trains by themselves yet.
This is despite the Firecracker’s kid being just obsessed with trains.
Trains and the subway show up a lot in this blog – even way in the beginning – because that’s my main means of transportation, which is kinda strange if you think about it.
I suppose most of you travel by car and such but that’s a luxury here in the city.
When the Firecracker and I went to Vienna, we didn’t think twice about taking the trains.
And years ago – before this blog, if you can believe it – I went to visit Prague and Berlin and had to get someplace off the train line.
Asked a local where the nearest station was and he said we should take a cab instead because their subway system was so complex.
I remember laughing and saying, “I’m from NYC, I think I’ll be ok.”
And I was.
Same with Vienna and every other major city I’ve ever been to.
Essentially, if you can make it around the NYC subway system, any other system on the planet is a cinch, language issues notwithstanding.
Interestingly, I read this article which said that “city transportation maps with over 250 connections are too complex for most people to navigate. In fact, a staggering 80% of trips in New York already exceed this cognitive limit.”
Meaning that just being able to take the NYC subway system puts you in the elite of cognition as it relates to mental mapping.
In some ways, that’s part of why I wanna raise the kid in the city versus elsewhere – because he’s constantly being tested and pushed in ways that he doesn’t even realize.
Well, that plus the fact that I can readily get all sortsa fried fowl, even in the midst of a pandemic.
Hangry…
Location: by a pool in Central Islip
Mood:
Music: oh my, the train is gone (Spotify)
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