Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy. This week, we're talking about crowds, getting lost in them, or maybe even finding your place in the crowd. First up, Terry Figueres Negrete. Terry told this story at a Miami Story Slam where the theme of the night was the fast lane.
Chapter 2: What themes are explored in the stories about crowded places?
Here's Terry live at the Moth.
So how many of you guys have experienced the magical wonderland that is Miami-Dade public transportation system? So I take the train every day from Civic Center on my way home. So the other day, like normal, we are chugging along southbound when all of a sudden the train rolls to an ominous stop. No big deal, it happens.
But we all kind of look up from our cell phones, see what's going on, when all of a sudden a woman yells, oh my God, there's a man on the tracks. Sure enough, there's a guy, normal looking guy, kind of looks like Alton Brown. It is not Alton Brown, but he's like booking it down the tracks. We hear helicopters in the distance, police sirens.
I found out later that this guy was shoplifting at Merrick Park and Coral Gables Police have launched like this
Chapter 3: What unexpected events occur during Tere Figueras Negrete's train commute?
SEAL Team Six level manhunt, because, you know, like, Coral Gables, right? So we are stuck on this train with no power until they catch this guy for three hours. It is a dismal hellscape. There is no air conditioning. There's, like, babies crying. Why are there so many babies on the train? The conductor keeps wandering in with these, like, sassy but unhelpful updates.
Like, I think that guy must be smoking a flaca. Like, not useful information. So I decided to make the best of it and introduce myself to my neighbors. On one side there is Tony, a very cool 20-something who I assume is either like a DJ or a graphic designer. And then there is Danny who is studying to be a paramedic.
And halfway through this ordeal, Danny just announces loudly to the whole train, I think we should just turn the power on and just fry that guy. And I'm like, Danny, bro, your shit got dark real fast. And he just looks at me by way of explanation and says, Lord of the Rings, bro. And I'm pretty sure he means Lord of the Flies. But I don't want to be a bitch about it.
I also have not read Lord of the Rings, so maybe there is a famous scene involving a train and a wizard, and I don't want to get into it. At that moment, we hear this booming voice out of nowhere from the back of the train, like the voice of God. I am diabetic, claustrophobic, and narcoleptic. which is like an amazing list of afflictions.
So we turn to see the source of this voice, and it's this tall guy with a heat jersey and sunglasses. He has enraptured the whole train and then starts to make demands. I need water, snacks, and freedom. Holy crap, this guy is Braveheart. He is the William Wallace of the metro rail system. You, sir, have our attention. And bus passes for a month. Bus passes for a month.
Ladies and gentlemen, who is with me? We need to stand united for justice. So Tony, the DJ graphic designer, stands up and starts chanting, bus pass, bus pass. And Danny, the Tolkien-loving sociopath, starts chanting, power to the people, power to the people. The whole train is clapping and cheering. And we are no longer strangers on a train. We are a movement.
And just when I think that Danny and Tony are going to pry open the doors of the train and we're going to rush out onto the tracks like the cast of Les Mis, just like storming the barricades, demanding free bus passes and snacks from Miami-Dade Transit. Just like that, the train rumbles to life and we begin to move. And the moment is over.
Everyone scrambles for their bags and their babies and their... and their cell phones. But I learned something important that day about myself, about Miami. I learned that we are all just speeding along on our own parallel tracks, on our own fast lanes, never intersecting, rarely connecting, never thinking about where we are, always thinking about where we should have been already.
But when it all comes to a screeching halt, We are all ultimately bound by three universal but simple truths. Water. Snacks. Freedom.
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Chapter 4: How does Tere's experience reflect on human connections in crowded situations?
I'm all set. So he hits the numbers thing, but he hits it twice. And he goes, all right, number 63. And then I just stop. I go, wait a minute. I got 62. I've been waiting here. You let half of Italy cut me. I'm ready to go. And I go, I want a quarter pound of boar's head roast beef. And I want it rare. Please, John. And the poor guy, I thought he was going to start crying.
He's like, I'm so sorry, son. I go, don't worry about apologizing. Just get me my meat. So he cuts it, and he's doing it, and he gets it, and I just grab it, and I get to him, and I'm like, I'm having such a tough time. I felt good at yelling at someone.
It just made me feel really good inside, and I'm still shaking, but I feel, so I'm heading to the cash register, and one of the elderly Italian ladies that cut me grabs my arm, and she goes, shame on you, shame on you. John's mother's sick. And I'm like, and I just wanted it. I get my roast beef when I go home, and I'm still shaking. I go, and I get the cat scram, and I'm making my sandwich.
And I... I can't stop thinking about John's mother. It's like the way I am. I'm just sitting there like, John's mother. Jesus Christ, this poor guy. I'm... I'm like, I'm not hungry, so I Google shop right, Hoboken, and I get on the phone, and I go, please can I have the deli department? John answers, I go, John, it's Adam Wade. And he's like, who?
I go, I'm the guy that just came in that yelled at you at the record department. He goes, oh, yes, I remember. And I go, you know, I'm really sorry. And I go through my whole spiel. I'm having a rough summer. And he's just always like, don't worry. You seem like such a nice boy. He goes, you'll get a job. Don't worry. Like, it made me feel so good. And I'm like, you know...
John, how's your mother doing? And he's like, she's off dialysis, but she might go back. And we're going on and on. It's like the best 15 minutes of my life. And then he cuts me short. He's like, you know, Adam, I'd love to keep talking to you. It's been a great conversation. But there's a lot of people here that want their meat and cheese.
So for the rest of the summer, I went in three or four nights a week. Some nights I wouldn't even get anything. But I would always, like, I didn't have money to go to bars. I'd talk to John, see how his money, you keep the faith. And then I met Wilma that did the samples, and I'd have samples to eat. And then Dorothy at the checkout, 15 or less. And, like, they helped me, you know.
And I'm fortunate to say, like, I had a job for a year, a year straight. And I just go, I can't go in every night to shop, right? I got a life. But I go in on Saturday afternoons, and it's packed, you know, and it's always really busy. I just get my grape nuts and cranberry juice. But I always, no matter what, I'll always go and say hi to John if he's there.
And I'm like, hey, John, how you doing? How's your mother? And she's like, off dialysis. She's riding a bike. I'm like, that is fabulous. He's like, how's work? I'm like, great. He's like, I knew you'd be all right. And like the crowd, you know, they're starting to get annoyed. And then I'm like, all right, John, I'll say have a good day. And he's like, hey, Adam, come here.
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