Subway Stories: When Women Put Their Face on...

I haven’t seen it in many years, but when I rode the #6 train from the Bronx (J-Lo’s line) into Manhattan some 20-odd years ago, I would occasionally see women putting their makeup on while riding the train. It struck me as about as odd as if a man suddenly decided to shave on the subway. Although, come to think of it, I seem to recall seeing men using electric shavers on their faces once or twice on the subway.

Anyway, there was one incident that really stuck out from those years. There was a very pretty girl who would get on at the same elevated stop in the Bronx as I would and get off at the same stop in Manhattan (42^nd Street/Grand Central Station) to go to work. She was about 20 or 21 and worked at an office not far from where I worked. I was newly divorced at the time and eager to enter the dating arena again, but this girl put up a strict keep-your-distance vibe to any and all seeking her attention, so I could only admire her from afar. (I once saw a sleazy older guy thrust his business card at her on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue and she recoiled in horror.) Occasionally she had her makeup on when she boarded the train and occasionally she didn’t. Well, there was one morning when she got on the #6 train and sat down, sans makeup.

The train ride through the Bronx, both elevated and underground, lasted some 25 minutes, give or take a few minutes, and wound up at 125^th Street, the first stop in Manhattan for the #6, where a number of riders would transfer to the express train (#4 or #5) in order to gain about five or so minutes in our trip to work. This young woman sat there for the whole ride on the #6, not moving, not reading anything, just staring straight ahead. (This was before cellphones and iPods.)

When we got off at 125^th Street and switched to the express, she did the same and, alas, got no seat on the express. She stood in the middle where the pole is and then did something extraordinary. She reached into her bag and whipped out her makeup kit. Did she wrap her arm around the pole to anchor herself while holding the mirror and compact in one hand and her makeup brush in the other? No, she stood there and balanced herself without holding on to anything and started applying the foundation. She finished that and began applying powder, using the brush, all while the train lurched erratically as it sped from 125^th to 86^th Street.

Now, it usually gets pretty crowded at 86^th Street and then even moreso at 59^th Street, but I don’t remember her stopping the makeup application at any point during the ten-to-twelve-minute ride to 42^nd Street, so it must not have gotten too crowded to cramp her style. She just kept working at it, doing the eyeliner, the eye shadow and, finally the lipstick, never once missing a stroke, all while keeping her balance on the speeding train, never once grabbing the pole. The final job was, as I recall, near perfect and she got off at 42nd Street ready for work. There were others who watched as well (not having cellphones or iPods to distract them) and were, no doubt, equally impressed. Still, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why she didn’t put the makeup on while she was sitting down  and why she waited till she had a much shorter period of time and was forced to engage in a balancing act at the same time.

In any event, I remember thinking that if there ever were an Urban Olympics, with such events as a 10-block race to a parking spot or a bicycle deliverymen obstacle course, there should surely be an event to judge makeup application on a crowded, speeding subway.

This was, of course, before the era of digital cameras, so I have no record of it, other than the indelible impression it left on my memory banks. I wonder where that woman is now and I wonder how she looks. She was Latina and would have been about J-Lo’s age (and came from the same neighborhood) and J-Lo still looks awesome. I doubt this woman still does her makeup on the subway. I’m guessing she’d be horrified to see a 20-year-old do that today.