This Week in Lines

by Jake Gallagher

1:12 PM Thursday, September 25 — Shake Shack
Location: Madison Square Park
Length: Forty-one people, thirty-one umbrellas
Weather: 63 and rainy
Crowd: Unflappable fry fans
Mood: Soggy on the outside, crispy on the inside
Wait time: Eighteen minutes
Lingering question: How much rain does it take to stop the Shack?

Time and date: 11:39 AM Wednesday, September 24 — Subway ticket kiosk
Location: Grand Central
Length: Twenty-six people
Weather: 72 and partly cloudy outside, dank down below
Crowd: Paunchy tourists with backpacks as bloated as their bellies
Mood: Affable enough to clearly not be natives
Wait time: Twenty-five minutes
Lingering question: Do you not see the open machines over there?

1:33 PM Thursday, September 25 — Vamoose Bus Line
Location: 30th Street and 7th Avenue
Length: Twenty-two people
Weather: 63 and drizzling
Crowd: Urban escapees
Mood: Blasé
Wait time: Twenty-seven minutes
Lingering question: Does a Chinatown bus ever actually have to leave from Chinatown?

Jake Gallagher is a writer for A Continuous Lean and other places.