The 22 Project: NYC - episode 8

I saw this girl in the subway station at 125th St. waiting for the downtown 6 train, and at first she just looked like a regular person back from a softball game.  She had on the entire outfit, complete with softball bat and athlete headphones.  (You know how sports players are always wearing headphones before and after a game – she looked like that.)  I didn't really pay any attention to her – she's just an ordinary high school kid back from a game.  Whatever.

Then she started rocking out in the middle of the subway station.  My eye was absolutely caught.

So I walked over to her, and it was almost painful to interrupt her one-person jam session, but I didn't want to a repeat of the MariaMaria situation.  As I got closer, this girl became even more unique in my eyes, because from her headphones came the sultry voice of Chad Kroeger.  (I by "sultry," I do mean "gravelly," because CK here is the lead singer of Nickelback.  She was rocking out to Nickelback!)

So I do my now-standard shoulder tap-tap, and she takes her headphones down.  We took this photo, and that's how I met Ashante!

Before I walked away I asked, "So what were you listening to?"

She got this look on her face, the one people get when they're not sure what to say, and she told me, "Rock. It's rock music."

So I made things easier for her and said, "Okay, cool.  I thought I heard Nickelback?"

Her whole face lit up like she'd just met a kindred spirit.  I half expected her to jump up, hug me and whisper, "Finally, someone who understands me!"  Instead she said, "Yeah!  'If Today Was Your Last Day!'"  The unsaid, 'Holy crap, you're know who Nickelback is?' hung between us.

I may have really made Ashante's Monday afternoon, if only for a few good moments.