Crash

Most of the time, walking around NYC is pretty impressive. People are coming and going basically nonstop, all managing to not run into each other. It's almost balletic in its appearance. This is especially true in a subway station. Sure, sometimes a performer or disoriented tourist can throw the dance into chaos, but it quickly resumes as we all quietly slip past each other, each passing hundreds of other people each day.

It takes a while to get into the swing of it, but you just get used to how people move and how to move around them as you all try to get where you're going very quickly.

Today, my train was being held because of a sick passenger, so people were disembarking and trying to get on other trains, or trying to squeeze onto the already crowded train.

Circumstances like today's make the dance less beautiful. People are bumping, jostling, stopping abruptly, making sharp, unexpected turns, and basically throwing the whole thing off.

So, in these circumstances, today I ran into someone.

Literally.

When I say I ran into her, I mean my body ran into her body.

When I say her body, I mean her shoulder.

When I say my body, I mean my cheekbone.

It hurt.

Unsurprisingly, I now have a headache.

I hope it doesn't leave a bruise or anything. That'll be awkward to explain. I feel really bad for the other girl. Her shoulder is probably achy now. I was talking about it with the guy who sits next to me in my first class today, and our teacher was listening and started talking to us as well. The professor asked if I had some pent up childhood anger or something. I told him that I was pretty sure that was it.

In related news, I'm thinking about investing in taller shoes. Or stilts.