Container Of Lentil Soup Commutes On NYC's G Train
While commuting via public transit may not always be the most comfortable means of travel, it's one of the few unifying forces left in our increasingly segmented world. Aboard a train or bus you encounter travelers from all backgrounds and walks of life, from young to old, from seasoned locals to enthused tourists, from harried professionals to a lone container of lentil soup.
Gothamist reports of the adventure taken this past weekend by a container of soup, after its chef decided to test whether it could make it across town unsupervised. Annie Correal, a metro reporter for The New York Times, left the soup on a G train car in a bag on Sunday afternoon, with a note stating that it was traveling to a friend:
— Annie Correal (@anniecorreal) June 2, 2019
The lentil soup successfully made the 12-stop trip between Carroll Street and Greenpoint Avenue, and in speaking with Gothamist about her experiment, Correal insists that it was just to see if the whole thing would actually work, and to get surplus soup to a pal. Observing that the G train has an infamous reputation for delays and stoppages, Correal sees it as affirmation that sometimes public transit works in precisely the ways it's supposed to, and that sometimes even a traveling meal can traverse a city in peace.
With that said, an MTA representative did later point out that "While we love both soup and sharing food with friends, leaving an unaccompanied bag on a train could disrupt thousands of people and divert first responders' time from other important work. We'd ask our customers to not repeat this experiment, and to avoid leaving unattended objects on the subway."
You can read the full account of the lentil soup's big day over at Gothamist, and always remember, leave people be on the train. Even if they're soup.