Jaunted

Ironically, this story came over the transom right as we were advising a visitor to NYC about subway safety, so we shall repeat: Taking the subway from JFK is safe, not to mention the cheapest way to get into midtown Manhattan, but keep your wits about you.

You may be above ground, but that doesn't make it a good idea to whip out your laptop or iPhone. Listening to music is fine -- it might even make you more aware of your surroundings -- but keep the volume down, iPod in your pocket and ditch the telltale white earphones. If all else fails, act like you do this all the time -- most of your fellow riders probably do.

And we don't care if you are a somewhat famous actor or a first-time visitor to New York, do not talk smack to someone who has just attempted to steal your laptop and is allegedly holding a 10-inch knife. That's what brainiac McCullouch did.

The train was halfway out of the station when it stopped. I was saying stupid, cocky stuff, like ‘You are [bleeped] buddy!’ He came at me again with the knife. But the other passengers had told a conductor, ‘A guy’s getting stabbed in there,’ so the conductor came in and got me into the next car.

If you do insist on telling your would-be assailant "You are [bleeped] buddy!", make sure to wear whatever leather jacket McCullouch was wearing. Apparently, it's thick enough to withstand a stabbing from a 10-inch knife.

Yet perhaps the most important rule of all is this: Do not travel with Gerald McCoullouch. Not only does he not care about flashing his laptop and iPhone on a subway nor about smack-talking armed men, he's had some bad luck traveling before. In 2001, he and a boyfriend were robbed at gunpoint in Atlanta.

Related Stories:
· 'Crime Scene' star Gerald McCullouch lands in real one [NY Daily News]
· Public Transportation coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of A Train: Kriston Lewis]