For the past three days, my every subway ride has been invaded by a class trip. Obviously, I am not the only on getting caught in the flood of sweaty, hyper children. I look at the faces of my fellow commuters. We all grimace, and wince, and put on our headphones. Books and newspapers are put away, because it is impossible to read in the bustle and noise and of 30 rambunctious children packed into one subway car. Why is there only one teacher? When I was little, we needed one adult monitor for every 5 kids, and we were traveling on a cheese bus, not a dangerous subway. Where are these children going? I hold by breath, hoping they'll be gone by the next stop, but the train passes the zoo, the stadium, Harlem, the natural history museum, the park, Times Square...and they're all still here, sitting on me and hitting my shins with their bookbags. Why are they so unaware of how much space they take up? Why is the teacher sitting as far away from them as she possibly can? I must admit that I was forced to use my stern stare at some little girls who kept bumping into me. They did say sorry, which is all I really wanted. And hey, it's better than getting pelted with rocks, like some people.

** Suggestions for Babs's new name can be left in the Notes section.
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