The Subway

          After determining I would spend the summer in NYC, I decided that since I had never lived anywhere other than Tupelo, Oxford, and Verona, Mississippi, that I wanted to live like a New Yorker. Part of that would mean no car. It would either be walk or use public transportation.
          After walking 7 miles yesterday, today seemed a good day to begin learning to use the subway like a local. In furtherance of that goal, my first try was this morning. After all, there is a subway station right outside the front door of our apartment building. I consulted my trusty Hop Stop app and was excited to learn that this stop was the one we needed. Confidently, down we went.
          Our first mission was to buy a metro card. Entering the area, we were greeted with 3 men in all black standing with machine guns held right in front of their bodies and another man with a dog. Did I mention they were holding MACHINE GUNS!
         They were standing on each side of kiosks where you have to purchase your card. The first machine we tried would not take our credit card. So off to the next we go. This one did work even though I was almost shaking while one of the men and his machine gun stood watch. I had the urge to run away. But enter we did and boarded the train.
          At one stop, a man with a guitar serenaded us, all in the hopes of getting money in his little bag. But I remembered Mama K-T's warnings and never looked at him. See, Mama Mouse, I did listen to all those lectures you gave me about how a country mouse should handle itself in New York.
         On leaving Ground Zero, Hop Stop told us exactly where to go. I did make a mistake this time and wasted one of my fares. After swiping my card, I entered the wrong compartment in the turnstile and had to reswipe again. Oh, well, it was this country mouse's first day on the subways.