I had writer’s block. What could I do to unblock? I could pick a word at random out of the dictionary. Nah, I tried that last week. Maybe I could create a nightmare by eating a large peperoni, onion and extra garlic pizza at bedtime. Scratch that, it would probably create a nightmare, but it will also create enough heartburn to last me a week. Maybe my last dose of oxy will conjure some hallucinations worth writing about. Cannabis only puts me to sleep. The book of Revelations should give me an idea. Say, that does give me an idea – spinning wheels, a chariot and a host of angels. That could be a ride on the subway with a host of characters and a variety of stories.

I got more than I bargained for – here’s what happened. I live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I went to the subway station near my apartment and waited around the platform checking out the characters hoping for just the right group to jump on the train. There were the usual junkies, hipsters, uptight businessmen and college students. When who showed up? A rabbi that I recognized and a Catholic nun. They were definitely together. I thought they were just who I was looking for. So, I joined them on the train.

They sat together at the end of the car. The seating in the car was along each wall with the two rows facing each other. There were no two-seaters facing forward. I squeezed in next to the man. He was dressed in a black suit, white shirt and tie. On his head was a black kippah and he sported a very nice full black beard. The nun was modern – not wearing a scapular or the old heavy black full tunic. Her skirt did reach below her knees, however. Her headpiece was a simple coif and short veil. Just to confirm, I asked the man if he was a rabbi. He said, “Yes.” I told him that I was also Jewish. He nodded and smiled a very tight smile – he was Orthodox and could probably tell that I was a secular Jew.

 To keep the conversation going I said, “I may not look like it now, but I grew up in an observant home. I went to Hebrew school and had a bar mitzvah. My ex-wife was Jewish. I’m not very observant now, but what I learned as a boy has stuck with me and Jewish morals still help guide my decisions.” Again, with the nodding and tight smile. He never made eye contact with me. He whispered something to the nun. I thought this might be a good time to talk about their story.

“Hey rabbi, the two of you remind me of one of those old jokes, you know, a rabbi and a nun walk into a bar …” That got his attention. He turned and gave me the evil eye. And she turned and gave me a look that could kill. “Whoa, sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that.”

 “Young man, you have no right to talk to us like that. If you are so guided by the mitzvot, don’t you remember that it is one of the greatest sins to embarrass someone? You have certainly embarrassed the sister and me.” I apologized and begged for their forgiveness. I told them that I was a writer suffering from writer’s block desperately seeking a way to remove the block. And that they looked like they would have an interesting story that would be a great prompt – something that would get me writing again.

The nun said that their stop was coming up. She whispered to the rabbi and then invited me to join them for lunch.