Commuting on the subway can be one of the most stressful parts of your day; what with the tourists not knowing how to swipe, manspreaders, seat-hoggers, overcrowding, delays, it’s expensive, being barged out of the way for a seat… wait, I can feel you getting stressed out just reading this… Lets look at some ways we can combat said stress with some advice from real New Yorkers.
Reddit user TaraRyanLCSW recently asked the NYC reddit community how they coped with the everyday stresses of their subway commute, some tips were useful and some… others, not so useful, but entertaining nevertheless:
Useful advice
- I live by the A/C line in Washington Heights. Although taking the A express would get me to my destination 10-15 minutes faster, the C line is way less crowded and 96% of the time there are seats available. – Benevolent_Truculent
- Always leave extra time (10 min-ish) to get to where you’re going. Oh, this subway is super-packed? Well, I could be a sardine and push myself in, or I could wait 3 minutes for the next subway, which will be significantly more empty. – shatana
- I found that listening to music without headphones really reduces stress. – EgregiOs
- Bose QC35 headphones… the noise cancelling on these things is strong enough to block everything out. – coder195
- Knowing your line. Best times/worst times. Even during rush hour there are vast differences in minutes. […] Sign up for MTA Alerts that will text you when your line is a mess, giving you other options to consider — including leaving work/home either later or earlier. The more aware you are, the less you have to deal with the hot soup mess on the platforms. – ethics
- Uncrowded – stand up and ride the train like a wave. might want to keep a hand near a pole. you’ll learn where the bumps and curves are on a regular route. Crowded – close eyes. breathe. listen to other people for fun, or just try and relax and block it all out. – blackbeanavocado
Not so useful… but kinda funny advice
- According to everyone on every train I’ve ever been on, getting a seat is absolutely essential, like a matter of life and death. They never look any happier but there has to be some satisfaction in squeezing into whatever small space they can. itssarahw
- Xanax. – xxjosephchristxx
- Stewing in my own bitterness; not unlike a bunch of root vegetables – classy_stegasaurus
- Stare straight ahead, stony faced, not making eye contact with anyone, giant DJ style headphones announcing to the world that you are listening to music and not absolutely not paying attention to anyone, alternating between fantasies of setting the train on fire and counting the hours until you can retire to a nice condo in Florida somewhere. – Louis_Farizee
Featured image source [pinterest]