Life in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York -- Bushwick blog

Lost Keys on the J Train

I found a set of lost keys on the J train on Friday around 9:15pm. I saw them when I got on at Marcy, headed east. What to do? Leaving them seemed pointless. Their owner has virtually no chance of finding this same train again. Maybe by some long and odd stroke of luck, weeks from now, the owner might happen onto the train and see them. The key ring could spend weeks sliding back and forth on the seat and floor. But at any time, I reasoned, someone could kick them from the train down to the street. Or someone could just pick them up and keep them as a memento or make some art from their lonely uselessness. I decided to give them to the conductor. He just laughed and put them in his pocket.

Sometimes I feel like the keys.


6 Responses to “Lost Keys on the J Train”

  1. videogirl says:

    I am heartened to know someone is so thoughtful as to care about the owner of the keys and to turn them in to the conductor. Anyone who has ever lost his/her keys can identify with the owners panic. Hopefully the conductor will turn them in to a place where they can be tracked down and not just left to jiggle in a pocket!!!! One good turn deserves another. Hopefuly the owner will check this web site and recognize the keys. If everyone did just one good deed a day imagine how wonder that would be!!!!!

  2. Kyle says:

    My roommate lost his keys on the J (I think, could have been an M I suppose) last week, although it was earlier in the week so it seems unlikely they would still be there on friday, but they look pretty much identical to his set from what I recall. Already made him another copy so it’s a moot point, but kind of funny that they would show up on a blog we both read a week later.

  3. chillinoncentral says:

    Nowadays, losing your keys can be worse that losing your cell phone or even your wallet. Back in the day, replacing a car key could never cost more than a dollar or two, but now that car keys have a chip in them that communicates with the car’s engine, it can cost you as much as a car payment.
    Your gesture to secure the lost keys and give the rightful owner a fighting chance to recovering them was most noble; and plastering a picture with a story on this site brings your efforts up yet another notch! I hope the conductor took your efforts more seriously after you walk away.

  4. videogirl says:

    To Nuts in NY…..Why do you think this is funny? How can someone who obviously cares about others…. and the panic they may be in when they discover their keys are lost….. and is willing to take the time and effort to do the right thing by turning them over to a place where they may be found by their owner….instead of just ignoring them………be funny?

  5. exbrooklynite says:

    I lost a set of keys a year ago. It cost me $240 to have a locksmith open my doors. Why so much? I have Medeco locks and they only way to pick them is to destroy them. The locksmith went through two brass drill-bits before he was finished. Thank God I always have his cellphone number in my cellphone. Even though I’m positive no one found my keys who knows where I live, I changed my locks anyway.

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