O K L A H O M A

Ya'll... Oklahoma is in me. Oklahomans are generally friendly people.  They'll always greet you with a smile, even if it's a fake/forced one lol. So if someone on the train looks at me for longer than a second, I immediately smile. It's like... involuntarily. Why can't I stop my mouth from forming a smile? Why can't I stop wanting to talk to people?!?  It's like I'm my own Humans of New York! "Tell me about your life, sir. Do you know where you're going on this train? What about in life, in general? Because I don't!" I'm just along for the ride.

I also don't like when people stare at me, so if I see someone looking at me, I smile at them in hopes that they'd look away. Either way, my smile landed me in the craziest of conversations: 

It involved this young man giving me his entire family history and a... war story? He first asked me what I was mixed with. I told him both of my parents were Black, and he told me I should look more into that (insert eye roll). He told me that he thought he was Black but he did some research and found out he was Jamaican, Haitian, Dominican, and Cuban (all of which are Black, but whatever). Anyway, his mom had relatives in the Black Panthers and his dad had relatives in the Black Mafia (I didn't know what that was. He told me to do my research). He said that one of his uncles earned a purple heart for his service to the culture. Who awarded him the honor?  How? I was curious but I didn't ask questions; I was trying to end the conversation ASAP. So while he sat there explaining how his Uncle Keith was killed in the line of duty, I was staring up at the subway route planning my escape. I realized that I was on a local train from Brooklyn to Harlem; which meant I was going to be sitting there, listening to his war stories, FOREVER.  I had to transfer to an express train. It would get me to Harlem faster, and away from him, most importantly. He saw me gathering my belongings and quickly asked if I was interested in being with a mature 22 year old. I told him I wasn't, with a smile of course. At the next stop I told him that it was a pleasure meeting him and that I'm thankful for his family's service to the culture. I know it made no sense, but I didn't know how else to end it. I don't think I've ever hopped off a train so quickly. 

On another note, I finally made it to Brooklyn and took a pic of the Manhattan Bridge. The sun had already set. I tried to make it as the sun was setting but I of course got lost along the way.