Commuting on the subway between the hours of 8 and ten is obviously terrible, but there is one thing that makes it better: inwardly mocking what various assholes on the train have the gall to read in public. From 50 Shades of Gray to Zen Essence, the “literature” you’ll see people gobbling up on the train is almost too incomprehensible to believe.
The only drawback is that they can often feel your judgment as you smirk at the title they’ve chosen to “enlighten” themselves with. That’s when the potential for a subway fight can ensue. It’s also interesting to note that reading choices are markedly different from one train line to another. For instance, the L will be packed with faux pretension like The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, while the N/Q/R types are more prone to flaunting what’s on the bestseller list–and usually on a Kindle, for that matter. And, since you have no arm room yourself to read, you might as well live vicariously through other people as they get something out of their morning commute.