Tis the Season for Scum Bombs
Those urbanites who have subways and elevated train stations know the gross factor that cometh with melting snow. It’s the slowly dripping, murky droplets of liquid substances that drop onto your head (or life-ending incidents of landing in your eye) from the beams and ceilings of an aging rail system. Unlike the drops that fall with rain, these scum bombs are highly concentrated with grossness: the filth of the subway and all that hath accumulated in the old snow. What are they made of? Who knows? Human feces, dirt, rodent excrement, spit, toxic waste….? Survival tactics: Avoid the wet spots you see on the floor. They are usually the ground zero of falling globs. Tread like Indian Jones in a Peruvian ancient temple to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
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I always wondered about mysterious stalactites/stalagmites that form in those places. What exotic disease would I get if I touched one of those?
http://science.howstuffworks.com/stalactite-stalagmite.htm
WHY DO I KNOW stalactites/stalagmites?! What Science unit was I awake for? Or was it on some Nickelodeon show circa 1986? I actually like to pretend like the murky dripping isn’t happening. I give nasty looks to anyone who doesn’t move in far enough so I can get by and then they make me walk into the stagnant water puddle resulting in 7 drips on the top of the head. It’s their fault. Certainly not the city’s fault.
Abhor anything liquid in or under the subway system. Avoid at all costs! I cross thru 42nd street subway station from #1 to R and it dosen’t get any gross-er than that trek.