the rix mix

I was catching a local train out of Newark Penn Station. I got in the line at the ticket machine. The woman in front of me had with her a boy of no more than four years old. She paid for her ticket with a credit card, moved off to one side and became preoccupied with finding something in her tote bag. The curious little boy watched me punch in the station information, then feed a five dollar bill in the slot. The machine made a clacking sound and a ticket dropped into the tray. I stepped back a few feet as if anticipating a possibility, intently looking at the machine. Four one dollar coins noisily rattled into the tray, one after another. The machine beeped three times and fell silent. I looked at the little boy with an expression of delighted astonishment, and said, "I won!" I quickly collected the ticket and change and strode off. The little boy ran over to his mother, tugged at her coat and, pointing excitedly at the machine, began pulling her toward it. She was completely baffled.

Labels: poem