I flew into JFK last weekend and I assessed my options on how to get to my sister’s apartment. My choices were – 55 minutes in an uber at $75-85 or 60 minutes on the subway for $7.25.

It was a no brainer for me. Subway. I value my time and I value experiences. 10x the cost to save 5 minutes is not a deal. Plus, I have been missing the subway. I love the experience of riding through the neighborhoods of New York City. From Jamaica Queens to Williamsburg, Brooklyn I get to watch young men fight over headphones debating who will need them more to get through their day at work and school. I get to smile at a stranger when we overhear a kid tell his mother how he will become superman that afternoon at school, in specific detail. He’ll get his powers from his third Oreo – the cream to be exact – and he’ll change into his ‘power clothes’ behind the slide at recess. No one will know who he is once he transforms. I told you, I miss the subway in that nostalgic way of a woman who no longer commutes via train.

When I arrived at my sister’s house with a large suitcase I had lugged up 10+ flights of stairs in the subway after transfers, she scolded me for taking the subway. “Why do you make your life so hard, Briana?”

I told her that it was fine and didn’t lose much time. She values comfort and she still commutes via subway daily. Thus, the pleasant relief of door-to-door service is awesome. I totally understand that but, we value different things. I take the subway.

On my way back to JFK, after a weekend of moving through the city during a storm – empty subways and treats of shutdowns, my train stopped before my destination, saying “This is the last stop on the A train. There will be no service beyond this point.” The train emptied out in the middle of Queens and I overheard so many people exclaim that they didn’t have an alternate way to get to work, home or wherever it was they were going. I remember when an unexpected $20 expense was such a stress. Taxis are not an option for so many people and I was in a wave of people directly impacted by this service change. I was overwhelmed with gratitude that I get to take the subway by choice. I looked for others that were on the way to airport to see if they needed a lift, but no one was going that way.

I am thankful for the amazing New York subway system – despite its inconsistencies, it enables so many people to live and work in an expensive city. I am grateful that I can enjoy its merits but that I can hop in a cab and still make my flight.