Wed 24 Jun 2009
Enc-roach-ment On Track 38
Posted by TJ under Grand Central, Metro North
We shuffled off the 8:43 and made our way up the gang plank on Track 38.
As usual, traffic slowed to get around one of the giant metal-mesh bins that people are to deposit their spent newspapers in. The bin occupies about a third of the platform width.
Only today, people were taking an extra wide route around the bin, leaving a good two feet of space between them and the silver cage, clogging pedestrian traffic even more.
I wondered why, and was determined to breeze past the bin and show my fellow commuters the error in their sluggish ways.
But as I got closer to the newspaper bin, I saw why–a ginormous insect, half roach and half water bug, hanging out on one of the bin’s metal squares about chest high. His brown, oval-ish body measured an inch and a half, his antenna were about a half inch, and his tail was another inch. Indeed, the whole of the supercritter measured about three inches.
We gave him as wide a berth as we thought he might need. Any Binflints looking to score a free Times quickly moved on to Plan B.
[image: dirtdoctor.com]