I generally skip the Metropolitan Diary in the Monday NY Times. Too many rich old ladies from uptown stumbling upon too many cabbies/homeless guys with a heart of gold, too many punchlines reading like some version of “Isn’t New York great?”

In fact, so formulaic are the diary entries, which are submitted by the public, that several have taken it upon themselves to compose fake ones, which the Times has erroneously published as fact.

But I did read it yesterday, and I’m glad I did. I mean, where else can you find a (presumably) true story about a paraplegic doing push-ups on the 2 train floor as another man sings gospel?

Dear Diary:

I was taking the No. 2 train uptown from 42nd Street on a recent afternoon, and a man in a wheelchair boarded with a guide dog. As the train started to move, the man stood up from the wheelchair, removed his coat, lay down on the subway car floor and began doing push-ups. On the other side of the car, a man announced that it was “gospel time” and started singing.

As the train pulled into 72nd Street, the gospel singer walked through the car asking for tips, and the man doing push-ups stood up and handed him a dollar. He then picked up his dog, put him in the wheelchair, lay back on the floor and proceeded with sit-ups until 96th Street.

Rebecca Weinstock