What is the Subway Slot Machine?

The Subway Slot Machine is that game that every New Yorker plays when they are waiting for a train.
As the train pulls into the station the cars stream by just like those little 7's, cherrys, and pineapples on a slot machine. We excitedly wait for the car that will stop in front of us and see if we've won big.

The big winner is the car with lots of empty seats. That train car where there are enough empty seats you don't even need to rush onto the train, cause there are enough for everyone. But sometimes this triple 7's is deceiving. What looks like an empty car is sometimes empty for a reason, no one wants to be in that car. The two cars that can scare off their passengers are the cars in the summer with no AC, and the cars with a smelly homeless man. You can sit through either of these situations, but you really don't want too.

The big loser is the car that is crowded to the rafters. The worst kind of full car is the car full of rowdy teenagers just out of school. These hormonally charged creatures with no sense of an "indoor voice" can be overwhelming. The only thing that comforts me in crowded cars is my height. Which allows me at least a little fresh air in the top two feet of the car.

One of my favorite wins is the group of European girls on a trip to New York. That's the jackpot. But whatever you get when you pull the Subway Slots today, remember that there's always another spin right around the corner.