(Multi) Modal Citizen

As much as I've really grown to love all aspects of cycling, I'm not going to lie to you: in the Winter, I have become a cycling hermit outside of my job. Since December, I've been buying monthly transpasses and taking the Subway/Bus to and from work every day to hide from the cold as much as possible. Call me a wuss, but I have no regrets. I prefer to use the term multi-modal.

Apparently everything stops here.

I write this entry not as a puff piece for mass transit, but rather because it's been yet another interesting facet of my life in this city to see how people react (or don't react) to things on a day-to-day basis.

There's always a man on the subway who asks for change. I can count on one hand the amount of times they've actually gotten some change out of another rider. I mean, if you're looking for change, how did you afford to get on the train in the first place? Often, they're met with indifference and even ignorance, myself included. I have a good reason why, but that's a story for another day.

In fact, most of the time, people on the subways and buses don't interact much at all. Everyone seems so unhappy at times. On the train, I think it's just because the subway is by nature a very cold, emotionless thing that carries you underground from point A to point B. Unless point B is exciting to you, which work isn't to most people, you have every reason to zone out for 15 minutes.

On the bus, I think it's a product of the driver. I'd say 9 times out of 10, I get on the bus and say hello to the driver, only to be met with indifference. On that rare 1 time, the ride is dramatically better.

Yesterday, I got on the 33 at Ridge & Thompson. The driver asked me "How ya doin?" before I could even ask him how he was doing. A good start, for sure. About 5 blocks later, we were stopped for much longer than we should have been. The driver said "We got a truck up here, folks. Just be patient." This simple act sparked a conversation amongst myself and the riders, beginning with our thoughts on whether or not people should be allowed to double park, then running the gamut to politics and sports.

I swear it was the fastest bus ride I've ever taken, all because of pleasant conversation started by someone who genuinely enjoys their life (or they can reasonably fake it, at least). The driver even got engaged, and I made sure to thank him kindly after I got off at City Hall. I'm not always in the mood for it, but in this case, it was a breath of fresh air.