It's something every engaged or jewellery-wearing human on earth dreads more than anything: losing it [1]. And not just losing it, say, in the laundry, where you have some control over sorting through sheets to find it, but losing it in a f*cking filthy New York City subway grate, where you're likely never going to find the appropriate government agency who operates the grate to help you, let alone walk away without having first caught a disease from the rats that bit you while you were fishing around down there.
Which is exactly what happened to Kate Ray (minus the rats). She documented her tireless efforts in a now-viral Twitter thread that has not only caught the internet's attention but even actor Lin-Manuel Miranda's. Read through her epic series of threads — it's a journey, but totally worth every minute of suspense. And it perfectly captures the marathon that is marriage! [2]
I went to get coffee with a colleague & was gesticulating a little too violently when my engagement ring flew off & rolled & rolled...into a sidewalk grate. Fuck.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray)
[3]April 24, 2019 [4]
i could see it at the bottom (that bit of shine near the top to the left of that pink trash) pic.twitter.com/Q6vExlYU91 [5]
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [6]
Colleague called 311 while I went into the building to find a building manager. He said the grate belonged to the MTA so only they could go down.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [7]
We're in FiDi so an MTA office happens to be across the street. I went there & found some wonderful ppl who told me about their marriages & found me the engineers who worked in the building
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [8]
The engineers came & looked but bc the grate was across the street, they said belongs to the MTA .org not MTA building. They told me to go into the Bowling Green station & ask for the station manager.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [9]
I did. Ticket booth guy said they were only available 8-4. As I was leaving the station, I ran into th building manager who was looking for me. He wanted to tell me that actually the grate was Con Ed.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [10]
Fuck if Con Ed is going to help me. I've lived in NY for 13 years doing battle with their customer service, there's just no way.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [11]
So I go to Duane Reade. There are no wire clothes hangers but there is a heavy duty measuring tape & duct tape.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [12]
Colleagues bring me a magnetic paper clip thing that i bash on the sidewalk to get the magnets out. I tape them to the bottom of the measuring tape & lower it down v slowly, many times. The ring is not magnetic, I guess.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [13]
So then it's just me & the measuring tape with duct tape on the bottom & irregular subway train breezes down in the grate. Bc I have a measuring tape, I know it's 11.5 feet.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [14]
I bring up a lot of dirt from the bottom of the grate. I push the ring around, sometimes out of sight but I've locked onto it.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [15]
I've been practicing this unique maneuver for about 30, 40 mins when finally I get the tape directly on the ring & begin to pull it up.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [16]
My colleagues try to stick their hands into the grate but their fingers aren't long enough. Mine are pretty long so I tell everyone to shut up and push as much of my hand down as possible.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [17]
There is a crowd around me now, cheering me on & yelling that I should go slower, faster, left, right. I get it all the way to the top, but it's going to get knocked off when I actually pull the tape through the thick grate.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [18]
In one movement, I pull up on the measuring tape & grab the ring with my other hand.
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [19]
pic.twitter.com/CRHurADpOO [20]
— Kate Ray (@kraykray) April 24, 2019 [21]
This is like the scene in Spider-Man 2 when all the New Yorkers rally around Spider-Man. I love it so. https://t.co/N6SInKQAom [22]
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) April 25, 2019 [23]