Public Transportation Re-route.

Because of a big subway expansion/repair project that the city is undertaking, part of the subway line that I take to change to a bus to get to school is shut down through fall, and is instead re-routed through tracks of another line that lie on the other side of a huge city park from campus.

(That stop is closer to school, but it’s not worth the time to change subway lines to get off at that stop, since that would be 2 transfers – subway to subway to bus – instead of just 1 transfer – subway to bus – even though that bus stop with the 1 transfer is located a bit farther away; it’s just quicker to hop on the bus there and sit through the extra blocks, than risk getting delayed in multiple transfers in order to get to a bus stop a bit closer to campus.)

Because that stop on the other side of the park from campus has been turned into a huge temporary transportation center, there’s always lots of cops and traffic controllers around at all times of day, and people from campus have taken to walking across the park to use that stop, even though it’s right where a poorer (black) neighborhood starts and sometimes groups of (black) bums hang out near a liquor store.

The other afternoon when I was walking across the park to campus, I was chit-chatting with a (black) nurse from the university hospital system about how nice it is to walk to that stop instead of waiting for a bus to take you across the park.

“They should have that many cops out all the time, to make it safe to walk there normally,” I was like.

She agreed, and said it was good to get the exercise, plus the free entrance at that one stop terminal (a concession the city transportation system made, since it messed up so many people’s normal routes).

I agreed to that too, and then was like, “This really is a beautiful park, and it’s all a safe walk, except for that last stretch.”

“Umm-hmmm,” she was like, “Though it is good if you need loose cigarettes!”, and then she laughed a loud happy laugh.