Communing with Ghosts and Subway Sandwiches

Staten Island, figuratively fading in my mind and literally fading due to climate change.

On Monday, I took the time to set myself straight by communing with the ghosts of the borough I grew up on, Staten Island. Every neighborhood, street, and store was overlaid by a memory of what once was. By the water in the Midland Beach neighborhood, much of the housing is built on recovered swampland and was pretty destroyed by Sandy. A house had a spray-painted sign that read something like, "Thank you Gov. Cuomo for the buyout and giving the land back to mother nature." Being Staten Island, I wasn't sure if this sign was earnest or sarcastic. 

On my journey through the past coming up the western spine of the island, I passed the garbage dump (now on the cusp of becoming a huge swath of public park land) on the left and the Staten Island Mall on the right (now on the cusp of becoming just another dead mall eaten by the internet.) There was a great Jewish Deli with a train care indoors you could dine in just down the way. Many "husky" jeans were bought at that mall. My dad would delight in the "Dollar Store" in the 80s, one of the first of it's kind in the area. All the dining options in this car-centric swathe of faux-New Jersey were kinda sad and chained, so I chose the least evil possible. I went to a Subway for my usual vegeburger.

Think Subway corporate will be in touch to buy my story?

As my sandwich was being assembled, the next guy asks the man behind the counter what foot longs are $5. The man behind the counter, perhaps in his 40s and around my age, looked soft, pale, doughy and a naturally slack look on his face. He started to explain to the man that they don't have any for $5 anymore, the ones on special are $5.50, and started reading the big menu board over head out loud to the customer. It was an odd moment -- a man asks a question that can be answered by simply looking up, another man answers by looking up and reading to him. 

I glance at the man who was placing the order -- again, about my age, mid 40s, also soft, pale, doughy and a naturally slack face interrupted by an unironic mustache. He amiably orders a foot long meatball and cheese sub on white Italian bread, along with soda and chips. As I watch to make sure no jalapeños are placed on my 6" vegeburger on whole wheat (no cheese) I calculate how many calories this man is about to imbibe. His sandwich is about 1300 cal, his chips another 300, his 20oz soda another 500 -- easily over 2000, which is about 3/4 of my own daily intake. As my mind buzzes and ticks away, the man ordering the meatball sub says to me, "Hey, whattaya getting there?" I turn my head, smile tightly, and grunt, "Vegeburger". 

Photo estimation of Unironic Mustache Man in the prime of life.

I notice the man is actually relatively thin of frame, but has a large beer belly; clearly he's a naturally skinny guy who just consumes way too many calories. We make eye contact through my wrap-around sunglasses and he glances at his sandwich, and says, "Yep, well that's why you look the way you do and that's why I look the way I do!" We both briefly chortle at our selves as I go take my seat. As I ate my sandwich, fritos, diet coke and played with my phone, I have to admit that was quite a compliment. 

A year or two ago the misshapen man with the mustache would not have said that -- I was 40-odd pounds heavier and also prone to eating more than my fair share, too. For a fat, unmindfully eating stranger with nothing to gain making light of just how different we are was just fantastic -- it's a confirmation of the reality I've been trying slowly, brick by brick, to make for myself. I was hoping for some lightness and hope on this ride, and did not expect it from a random SI goomba in a rather sad Subway outlet by the mall. 

The Staten Island of my youth.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2118

Artificially low because I didn't count Thursday, which I suspect was a 4000 calorie day.

BIKE CREDIT: 1150
MONDAY COUNT: 2290

SLEPT: 10pm - 5:30am, 7.5 hrs
Road around the perimeter of SI, communing with ghosts.

AM SNACK: 5:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:15am,  Steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

BIKE SNACK : 11:30am, momma salad, Grazebox nut mix , 300 cal

BIKE SNACK 2: 12:45pm, granola bar, 250

BIKE SNACK 2: 1:30pm, granola bar, 250

LUNCH: 2:30pm, Subway veggie burger, fritos, diet coke, 760 cal

DINNER: 6:15pm, mahi mahi, roasted brussels, pickels, poppa salad with creamy balsamic, 570 cal

EVENING SNACK: 6:45pm, 2 kind bars, 400 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/- 300 cal
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TUESDAY COUNT: 2600

SLEPT: 9:15pm-5:45am, 8.5hr
Good day to the zoo with Edie (off from school due to Election Day), cooking for special friends in the evening, a pretty great day.

AM SNACK: 6am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:15am,  Fage whole yogurt with honey, almonds, vanilla, 450 cal

AM SNACK: 10:30am, momma salad, Grazebox seedmix , 300 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken meatballs, mushroom curry, roasted brussels, pickles, 690 cal

DINNER: 6pm, shrimp in ramp butter, mushroom risotto, asparagus, black bread with blue cheese and sausage, fudge brownie, +/- 1000 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 3035

SLEPT: 9:15pm-5am, 7.75 hr
Lunch with a friend in the evening, root canal in the evening. Definitely effected what went in my mouth, and excess calories, but hopeful this was an exception to the rules.

AM SNACK: 5:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am,  Steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 12:30pm, Thai-like pulled pork sandwich, +/- 700 cal

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, momma salad, Grazebox cracker mix , 200 cal

PM SNACK: 4:15pm, 2 kind bars, 400 cal

DINNER: 5pm, grilled chicken breast, poppa salad, 425 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, almond butter and chocolate syrup, mushroom risotto, small quantity of chocolate chips, +/- 800 cal
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THURSDAY COUNT: N/A

SLEPT: 10:30pm-3:30am,  5  hr
Good productive morning, spent the rest of the day with a friend doing what is now legal in several states after the last election. Did eat WAY too much, but it was social and special.

AM SNACK: 4am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10am, whole fage with honey, vanilla and almonds, 450 cal

AM SNACK: 11 am, momma salad, Grazebox popcorn , 230 cal

-Lost Afternoon & Evening-

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BIKE CREDIT: 900
FRIDAY COUNT: 1690

SLEPT: 10:30pm-5:30am,  7  hr
Nice bike ride in the morning. Daily count skewed because I consumed so much the day before.

AM SNACK: 5:45am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BIKE SNACK: 11am, granola bar, 250 cal

BIKE SNACK: 12 noon, granola bar, 250 cal

LUNCH: 2:45pm, sardine and avocado on whole wheat toast, pickles, health salad, 620 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 5:15pm, Ethiopian vegetarian food, +/- 800 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, ice cream, cake, pastry cream, +/- 200 cal