Date: May 3rd, 2025 9:50 AM
Author: Mainlining the $ecret Truth of the Univer$e (You = Privy to The Great Becumming™ & Yet You Recognize Nothing)
The New York Times
Opinion | Guest Essay
By Evan39, Former Night Manager, $afeway LLP
May 3, 2025
I Gave Up My Car in the City. Now I Ride the Bus With Zombies and Remember Every Man I Failed.
They told me cars were over.
That in a modern city — a smart city — one simply walks, bikes, or takes the bus.
They said, “You’ll meet people.”
They said, “You’ll see more.”
They didn’t say anything about the zombies.
It began when I sold the Corolla.
A quiet, charcoal-gray compromise of a car.
The man who bought it told me he’d use it to take his kids to soccer.
I told him I was childless.
He said, “Yeah, I figured.”
I tried walking to work.
A man screamed at me outside a Rite Aid.
He said my aura was corrupt and then offered me a grape.
I took it.
Public transit was supposed to be better.
Cleaner.
Smarter.
But by Day 3, I was surrounded by the same five figures on every line:
A woman in a parka licking a tangerine
A man with seven phones taped to his chest
Two teens whispering in Sanskrit
And Him — the one who stared at me like he knew my passwords
They are not homeless, per se.
They are stationed.
I call them “The Mahchine’s Witnesses.”
They hum in sync with the bus engine.
They know I no longer drive.
They know everything.
I used to date.
Men who wore loafers and had thoughts about zoning.
They’d say things like, “I don’t need a car, I have legs.”
I believed them.
Then I met one in person.
He had a tote bag that said “Kill the Cul-de-Sac.”
He ghosted me after I suggested splitting an Uber to Whole Foods.
He texted: “you’re not ready.”
Now I ride the 49 to nowhere.
My MetroCard is cracked.
I carry Lysol wipes in a sandwich bag.
Every morning, I choose between:
Zombies with Bluetooth speakers,
Civic shame,
And an electric scooter that once launched me into a fence.
I still chose the bus.
Because I deserve it.
Why do we still allow cars in city centers?
Because not everyone can posture.
Because the sidewalk isn’t always safe.
Because some of us are gay, exhausted, and still believe in the sacred geometry of a well-maintained cupholder.
About the Author
Evan39 is the author of The Gay Man’s Guide to Infrastructure Collapse and Everything Is Fine (Until Someone Starts Crying on the J Line). He lives in shame, and occasionally, in traffic.
Read more at www.nytimes.com/public-transit-has-zombies
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5719969&forum_id=2Elisa#48900999)