Are you sure?

Sometime last week, I was riding the 6 train in to the city sometime before noon. I found a seat immediately.

About two stops in, the lady sitting diagonally in front of me asked the person sitting to her left if he knew how to get to Bellevue. The person didn't respond. Then she asked the one to her right. Again, no response. She cupped her hand over her mouth when she asked each of them, yet she didn't use an inside voice to ask the question. I immediately thought one of two things: language barrier or they're like, "Hell no, I don't talk to crazies."

Side note: For the youngsters or those that just came out of the cave, Bellevue is the oldest public hospital in the United States. It's well known for a lot of firsts but usually what comes to mind is their psych facility.

So me, with my self-appointed responsibility to help my fellow rider, answered her question. She'd been told to transfer to an express train at 125th and go to Times Square (which is not even on this line). For the next four stops in the Bronx, this gentleman (the other self-appointed pendejo) and I kept trying to reassure her that the best way to get there (being careful never to mention her destination) was to stay on this train, get off at 28th and walk over to 26th and 1st Avenue.

I even went so far to write down the directions for her. A bit of the conversation, as I recall:
- "But will I see it?"
- "Yes, ma'am. It's huge. You can't miss it. There are signs and it takes up several blocks."
- "Are you sure it's Bellevue?"
- "Yes ma'am."
- "But I don't wanna get lost. Are you sure? Is there more than one Bellevue?"
- "No, ma'am. There's only one."

I caught myself at that point before saying, "I know, I've been in there." Folks on the train are never going to understand that, "I know, I've been in there (Bellevue)" can mean, "When I was completing a nine-month mentorship in grad school I attended meetings and workshops at the hospital", as it did in my case.

Mind you, Bellevue is a huge facility with every health care service imaginable. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, this lady could have been going to visit her new grandbaby. But instead I thought of my brother David's constant advice to stop talking to people on the train, and transferred to the 5 at 125th.

I was sure.