Law and Order gave me the wrong impression.

I am a diehard Law and Order viewer. Much to Justin's dismay, he often found Law and Order: SVU recording on his DVR. It was not my parents' constant nagging about the dangers lurking around every Avenue that really freaked me out, it was the episodes of SVU where a college girl was brutally attacked that made me cautious.

The subway was always the worst in the episodes. Filthy, with homeless beggars, overly crowded sub cars, and shifty-eyed men, the subway was infested with the worst of everything. So, when I first ventured down into the L-Train, I was uneasy. However, it isn't crowded. There are very few homeless people (save the nighttime when they want to get away from the elements), and there are always police on the platform.

About the only thing L&O had down was the rodent problem. And even that didn't become apparent until last night. We had just come from the premiere of SATC:TM (which was awesome, btw), and as we made our way back in our fabulous heels and dresses, I was just beginning to believe that there were no rats in the subway.

Ever since the first time I stepped onto the subway platform I had pictured myself falling into the tracks, unable to get back up. what would happen? I imagined myself in the movies, where they duck in between the two tracks and the subway goes right over top of them. However, I have begun to worry my butt is too big and would eventually be grazed by the bottom of the train. It didn't help that on the first trip down Savannah relayed a horror story about a man who fell down and was stuck down there so long, three subways came and went over top of him. It may be morbid, but now, as we walk through the streets of Manhattan, I often wonder if a crane will crush me, or if a crazy taxi driver will run me down like Frogger as I attempt to cross 34th and Broadway.

Death by taxi. Death by subway. I pondered newspaper headlines.

I know I am not the only one who ponders death by subway car, or worse. In her latest, Sloane Crosley writes, "As most New Yorkers have done, I have given serious and generous thought to the state of my apartment should I get killed during the day. Say someone pushes me onto the subway tracks. Or I get accidentally blown up. Or a woman with a headset and a baby carriage wheels over my big toe, backing me into some scaffolding, which shakes loose a lead pipe, which lands on my skull. What then?"

On this night, on the platform, my roommates and I waited for the L-Train that would take us to 1st Avenue. We saw a bunch of clothing laying in the tracks. Underwear, shoes, notebooks, t-shirts, all strewn about in dirty water. As I tried to get a good view of the litter, the underwear...moved.

I shrieked. Dancing underwear in itself is a sight. But watching a rat crawl out from under it is even more disturbing. The closer I looked, the more rats started appearing. Before my eyes, the subway was turned from a place I affectionately believed was portrayed inaccurately in Hollywood, to an ugly petting zoo.

Death by fear of rodents. Death by possessed underwear. Today's top story.


JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL, LIVING IN A 'HOT MESS'

Walking around in New York can be intimidating. Everything is larger than life. Everything is expensive. Everyone looks expensive. I take that back. As Sav says, there are two types of people living in NYC. Those who can dress, and those who can't. And those who can't...really can't. However, those who can, often brush by you dressed in their BCBG dresses and Armani suits and make you feel insecure about your own clothing choice (Something that is very new to me...). Sex and the City last night brought out the best.

Strappy stilettos and Chanel earrings on the ladies, and Versace clothing adorning all the gay men waiting to comment on Carrie's wedding dress. And believe me, those gay men are vocal about criticizing fashion...and about the people who try and butt in line in front of them. I have never seen two gay men fight, but I came close last night! One of them affectionately coined our tightly packed line to the theatre as a 'hot mess.'

The 'hot mess' today turned out to be getting ourselves un-lost in Rockefeller Center. One of my roommates and I decided to look for the New York Public Library where Carrie chooses to have her wedding in The Movie, as well as see the Chrysler Building. It took much longer than anticipated since, as women, we have no natural sense of direction.

I also finally got to see where I would be working on Rockefeller Plaza and go into the NBC store. If Dwight Schrute had a kingdom, this would be it. Wall-to-wall Dwight bobbleheads wobbled gazes at me as I searched the store. I finally got my NBC Universal shirt as well as an "I <3 Jim" tee.

Pretty productive day.