Musings on the F Train

As much as New Yorkers love to gripe about the subway, it really is a remarkable system. It moves I don’t know how many people all around the city everyday. Where else can you see so many different kinds of people all in one place, united in the same pursuit: trying to get ‘there’. So many cultures merge, and sometimes collide. I marvel at the diversity.

Today, as I stood in the F train surveying my fellow riders I saw nothing unusual. Two teenage boys sharing headphones, an elderly man with can and newspaper, a can of soda here, a bottle of juice there. One woman eating licorice and reading a gossip mag, another with her Starbucks yogurt parfait. Empty calories, Mindless eating.

For a moment I was struck with how jealous I was of them, able to pick up whatever the feel like without a second thought. I missed that, not readying every label with eagle eyes before a purchase.

And then I took another bite of my celery and was reminded of what I do have: my health. And mindful eating. Being gluten free has made me so aware of my body. What it needs, what it doesn’t need, and how it reacts to different things.

I think to myself: if I have to stop to read the labels, why not smell the proverbial roses while I’m there? Take this opportunity to be conscious of everything I eat, even, especially, the things I know are gluten free.