MTAisms: What The NYC Subway Can Teach Us About How to Live Life

Often we look up for guidance.

But much wisdom about how to live life can be found below the sidewalks.

MTAism #1: Generosity is a choice, not a privilege.

When a person walks through a subway car asking for help, it is most likely that those with less money are the ones to help them.

Even the least fortunate can spare a dollar or a hand.

MTAism #2: Don’t always follow the crowd.

There is always more congestion near the doors than there is in the middle of the car.

Or one part of a car is more full than another, simply because it was closer to the stairs at the station.

See the opportunity and go for it, even if nobody else does.

It is possible that the crowds are wrong.

MTAism #3: You never know who can make a difference.

On a subway, the all-mighty gatekeeper is this person:

When the areas get crowded around the pole in the center of the photo, they wield the greatest of powers — that space to stand where you don’t wind up stuck in an accidental huddle.

If you ask the right gate-keeper for help, opportunities suddenly open up.

MTAism #4: Don’t assume someone’s motivations until you know them.

There is always that one person whose music is so loud in their headphones that we can identify the song.

Or they might not even have headphones, and are playing from the speaker on their phone.

Maybe it’s not that they don’t care, or that they are blasting music so loud that they will go deaf at 40.

They might not be able to afford new headphones.

Or those loud, in-ear headphones are designed in a way that they blast music outwards as well, by no fault of the listener.

MTAism #5: Some miracles defy easy explanation.

How in the world do some folks manage to have a phone conversation in between stops?

I need their phone plan.

Or are they just talking to themselves?

MTAism #6: Don’t make $100 issues out of $1 problems.

No three minutes seems more important than those minutes that somebody will have to wait if they miss that train that is closing its doors!

They MUST try to pry those doors open and fit in, or push those people further into the crowded car, because three minutes!

Or, we are just telling ourselves a story about time and patience.

Pain is a physical sensation. Suffering is a mental choice.

MTAism #7: Sometimes you will feel pressured for no apparent reason.

When the subway doors open while you are waiting on the platform, you feel this urgent energy from the people around you to get into the subway car as quickly as possible.

Even as people are still exiting.

Why in the Q Train’s name are you having a little fight-or-flight response when the doors open?

MTAism #8: How you do something, is how you do everything.

Those who chew their gum loudly in the subway, man-spread, or lean against the middle poles with their behind looking like the bun to a pole hot-dog, are the same people who move slowly to let someone off of the train when the doors have almost closed, or keep their backpack on in a crowded train. And they are often making choices with similar levels of awareness when they get off the train.

MTAism #9: You will never please everybody. But you might please somebody.

Do you think the Showtime guys would be doing what they do, if they made no money at all?

You might not like them, but somebody likely gave them money, and that may be enough for them to keep going.

MTAism #10: When you doubt someone, it might be because of their flaws. Or it might be because of yours.

When somebody says they are in need, you might not know the truth.

What matters more in the moment is what your view of the world is — do you think people are generally good, or generally flawed?

Your view affects your interactions with others.

MTAism #11: It’s easy to get knocked over by life. What matters is whether you learn how to weather the storm.

You can tell someone’s experience with the subway from one thing. When they are not holding on to a bar, do they face in the direction we are moving, or perpendicular to it?

MTAism #12.1: You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat someone who cannot benefit them materially.

Watch a happy or curious baby come in to a subway car.

See who smiles and interacts with them.

Watch a crying or angry baby come in.

See who is easily annoyed.

MTAism #12.2: You can tell a lot about a person by how they respond to problems that are out of their control.

When the lights go off in the subway car, and it comes to a complete halt, who groans?

Who remains neutral and unaffected?

Who smiles at a co-traveler and accepts it with positivity?

MTAism #12.3: You can tell a lot about a person by how they respond to a situation that they can affect, but which could be risky.

When a rider is verbally harassing someone, or starting tension that could lead to a fight- who are the ones that completely ignore the situation?

And who assertively tells them to stop?

Who are the ones that join the fight?

And who are the ones that simply step in the middle without saying a thing, serving as a barrier to altercation without getting officially involved?

MTAism #13: Assume the best.

When you crowd into a train, bump into some accidentally, or swing your bag into them as you are standing up from a seat, if you smile at them or they smile at you, in that apologetic, “my bad” way, almost all possible tension can float away.

We are all fellow passengers on this 1 Train of life.

Let’s travel together the right way.