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The snow is melting today, causing quite a mess on the streets and sidewalks. Most New Yorkers are happy to forgive Nature the slush in exchange for the warmer temperatures. However, the slush made the morning subway ride a slippery affair. Clutching a handrail to keep from sliding ??” and watching my feet to remind them of how much I was counting on them ??” I had the opportunity to take a look at the unnoticed world of the subway car floor.

Under the usual commuter debris of candy wrappers, empty coffee cups, and discarded newspapers, I discovered the City’s dirty footprint. Like a Rorschach test intended to convey chaos, the confused collection of prints caught in the commotion and preserved in the slush intrigued me. A fading portrait of the lives of those who rode this train.

Imagining myself a gum[shoe] detective, I tried to match the forgotten footprints with a particular personality. I found a solid-looking boot print: heavy thick treads on the heel matched with smaller square ones covering the arch, a construction worker on his way to the jobsite, I deduced. A set of small sneaker prints bearing the Nike swoosh, a woman wearing sensible shoes so that she doesn’t slip and fall [today].

Soon I was working the process in reverse; Glancing at a person’s face and clothing, I imagined the shoe they were wearing and the impact its ’sole’ was having on the City’s footprint. Further simplifying the process, I began to categorize the shoe types into classes, with A representing snow boots, B as sneakers, and so on. My powers of deduction were sharpening, exhiliration flowing through my body as I silently mapped the footprint of the City with ‘A! B! B! E!…’

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February 03rd 2006 Posted to   Just Test