This morning I was walking down the last set of stairs to the subway platform just as the conductor was closing the doors. I walked the length of the platform to my spot on the benches and the subway was still sitting there. I got out my journal and the subway was still sitting there. So I looked into the train to see if I knew anyone. I didn't, but I did notice that the windows on every door had bumper stickers on them that said These Doors Do Not Recycle. As if recycling weer something done by most inanimate objects. Why do the doors say that? And why just on that train?

This morning I am thinking about the day care center at my high school. The high school girls who had babies could bring said babies to day care each day and continue going to school. Every mom with a baby in day care was required to spend at least one period working in the day care center. I think this counted toward their graduation credits. Other students could work in the center, but why would they want to. I had a friend who worked in the center because she wanted to work with children after she graduated. The rest of the people I knew who worked there were mothers. This morning, while thinking back, I am wondering if the fathers of those babies in day care had to work there for a period each day, too.

I am remembering the time when my high school best friend told me she thought she was pregnant. I was spending the night at her place and her mom and stepdad were playfully talking int he living room while she and I were standing in the kitchen with the lights off. She got my attention and put her index finger to her lips, then pointed to her parents. I nodded and she gestured to her stomach, miming the shape of a pregnant belly. She pointed again to her mother. I frowned. I pointed to her mother and stepfather. She nodded and put her index finger to her lips. I thought she was telling me that her mother was pregnant. It wasn't until a week or so later, when she said, "False alarm, I got my period last night," that I realized my mistake.