Evening rush hour on a crowded subway platform. There were extensive delays on the express track headed downtown.
As a means to zen, or perhaps to self distract, many of the assembled adults read or interacted with electronic handheld devices.
Across the way, the uptown express track platform was also heavily peopled.
Weaving their way through that crowd, was a family of four— a mother, two boys, 14 and 12 respectively, and a girl, possibly 10 or 11, her dark fall of hair swinging from side to side in a ponytail hitting mid back.
But while the mother walked at a steady enough pace, the kids, as a result of their fancy footwear, were having fun alternating between walking and gliding— the latter, literally, giving the impression of skating across the platform in sneakers.
At one point, the younger ones took turns holding on to the very confident oldest, hitching a ride as he glided for a stretch, then came to a stop. Then glided again, then stopped, all the while openly enjoying his time in the limelight.
Their giggling, their expressions of delight and their gliding footwear all had me smiling — a welcomed breath of fresh air from my, at the time, 45+ minutes of come-on-where-are-you-train waiting.