Monday, December 28, 2009
Be Jeweled
Last week it was watching a young woman apply make-up over a 20 min period; this morning I am watching a girl apply many diamond studs to her ears. 8 in each ear, I count; keeps them in a little blue box. insert, clip; insert, clip. now her ears sparkle and glisten in the morning light!
Getting Off at a Different Stop in Life
Conversation overheard on the train: "Oh, I've learned, now. I want to get a job and make money the right way and live a right life, instead of sellin' drugs, winding up in prison, and losing my baby." On this Friday before Christmas...amen to that.
Transit Greeting
UNNERVING Adventures on the Light Rail - attempting to board train when a crazed man inside jumped in front of the door and yelled "YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE! GET THE (expletive) OFF OF HERE! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE! GET THE (expletive) OFF OF HERE! So thought of my own skin and stepped back down on the street. and will call transit police to let them know that the ambassador of car # 123 is NOT doing his job correctly!
Morning Complexion
Young lady across from me on the train got on at same stop and has been applying make-up since she sat down. Eyeliner on the lashes, some color on the lids and brows(?), lip gloss...and now more eyeliner. And now rouge and more lip gloss. I am watching the "morphing" of a face! Fascinating..., even to a father of daughters! Poor thing-her pencils and tubes keep sliding all over the seat.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Morning News Headlines
Adventures on the Light Rail - woman with newspaper in her hand, reading the headlines out LOUD to us, and then commenting on the stories, like a female Paul Harvey! Don't have to read the paper myself, I'll just tune in to HER station! Good Day!
Monday, December 7, 2009
"Tis the Season to be Jolly..."
After nearly 20 years (off and on)of riding light rail, I guess I am overly sensitive when train breakdowns and delays happen on the system.
Since I started riding the train again into work earlier this year, the problems have been minimal, but this morning's drama was especially frustrating. Bad weather in the area apparently led to a stalled train on the tracks downtown, and so in-coming trains were delayed at several stops for several minutes, and at 29th street, we all had to "disembark" and catch a bus that would take us into downtown via P street, and hopefully drop us off "as close to" our destinations as possible.
Getting off of the train at 29th there was HUGE crowd waiting to get on the buses, and like a bunch of extras from "The Towering Inferno," once a bus pulled up and opened its doors, people started shoving and crowding onto the bus. One short gentleman with a red suitcase started plowing thru the crowd to get on the bus. This upset eveyone else near him and a shouting match and a scuffle started near the bus door. One man started hitting and pushing the short guy and while he WAS being obnoxious, he didn;t deserve to be pummeled, so I got into it a bit with the lead guy shoving him and, well...it was just not a pleasant way to start a Monday. Embarrassing to see our fellow human beings overreact like that. We're not evacuating a building, people - we're getting on a bus!!!
On the bus - packed with ex-train riders - tempers were still flaring, people were making alternative plans and thinking of alternate routes. Probably a lot of folks didn't make it to school or into the office on time. Finally got to work myself a little more than an hour AFTER I first got onto the train in the early morning...normally a 25 min ride and walk. That's life on the Light Rail!
There is nothing as unsettling as sitting on a light rail train that is idle, waiting or stalled, going nowhere, realizing you have someplace to be at a certain time...and you can do nothing about it. But wait. And wait. It is a feeling of total powerlessness. One just has to take a deep breath, and be willing to surrender to the mercy of someone else's schedule. Or get into a fight about it.
Since I started riding the train again into work earlier this year, the problems have been minimal, but this morning's drama was especially frustrating. Bad weather in the area apparently led to a stalled train on the tracks downtown, and so in-coming trains were delayed at several stops for several minutes, and at 29th street, we all had to "disembark" and catch a bus that would take us into downtown via P street, and hopefully drop us off "as close to" our destinations as possible.
Getting off of the train at 29th there was HUGE crowd waiting to get on the buses, and like a bunch of extras from "The Towering Inferno," once a bus pulled up and opened its doors, people started shoving and crowding onto the bus. One short gentleman with a red suitcase started plowing thru the crowd to get on the bus. This upset eveyone else near him and a shouting match and a scuffle started near the bus door. One man started hitting and pushing the short guy and while he WAS being obnoxious, he didn;t deserve to be pummeled, so I got into it a bit with the lead guy shoving him and, well...it was just not a pleasant way to start a Monday. Embarrassing to see our fellow human beings overreact like that. We're not evacuating a building, people - we're getting on a bus!!!
On the bus - packed with ex-train riders - tempers were still flaring, people were making alternative plans and thinking of alternate routes. Probably a lot of folks didn't make it to school or into the office on time. Finally got to work myself a little more than an hour AFTER I first got onto the train in the early morning...normally a 25 min ride and walk. That's life on the Light Rail!
There is nothing as unsettling as sitting on a light rail train that is idle, waiting or stalled, going nowhere, realizing you have someplace to be at a certain time...and you can do nothing about it. But wait. And wait. It is a feeling of total powerlessness. One just has to take a deep breath, and be willing to surrender to the mercy of someone else's schedule. Or get into a fight about it.
Don't hold a gun to Mother Nature
Adventures on the Light Rail - Guy on cell phone; "Did you get white stuff on the ground last night? Well, WE didn't!! It better snow tonight or I'm gonna be (expletive) PISSED! It (expletive) snows and misses OUR (expletive) house!! Anyway, honey, love you-bye!!" Unbelieveable. Monday morning on Regional Transit...
Monday, November 23, 2009
Artist in Transit
I haven't seen Arthur on the train for a while...the artist! Used to run into him periodically as he took the train to and from his work. While riding, he would observe, listen, and would quietly and unobstrusively sketch portraits in his worn, black art book, paying close attention to the faces and figures around him. Look up, capture a visual - look down, draw.
When we would meet on the train, he would always turn over his book and show me his latest creation, whatever he had been sketching since he got on board; a woman sleeping, someone talking on the phone, a couple kissing, a parent playing with a child, someone sitting alone and staring. He sketched with such detail (even sometimes capturing the reflection of the person in the glass) that I could glance at his artwork and look up and easily pinpoint who he happened to be drawing. And each drawing also seemed to vividly capture the attitude (pensiveness, humor, sadness, arrogance) of the particular person.
If his "subject" got off the train too early, his drawing would go unfinished.
His book was filled with drawings from previous train rides, and I told him he should publish his art someday.
If I ever see him again, I'll encourage him to post a few sketches here.
When we would meet on the train, he would always turn over his book and show me his latest creation, whatever he had been sketching since he got on board; a woman sleeping, someone talking on the phone, a couple kissing, a parent playing with a child, someone sitting alone and staring. He sketched with such detail (even sometimes capturing the reflection of the person in the glass) that I could glance at his artwork and look up and easily pinpoint who he happened to be drawing. And each drawing also seemed to vividly capture the attitude (pensiveness, humor, sadness, arrogance) of the particular person.
If his "subject" got off the train too early, his drawing would go unfinished.
His book was filled with drawings from previous train rides, and I told him he should publish his art someday.
If I ever see him again, I'll encourage him to post a few sketches here.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
"Can You Hear Me NOW?"
The lady sitting across the aisle from me is going to court to pay a traffic ticket this morning, and then going to visit Charlene in La Habra at the end of this week. She's been ill all weekend (the lady, not Charlene). I know all of this because I just heard her whole, kinda-loud cell phone conversation. Just passin' the news along...
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Elderly, Near-Naked...and Getting On at 8th & Capitol
Astonished at the ELDERLY woman who just got on wearing nothing but a tank top and skimpy shorts! On such a chilly night! Good Lord. May offer her my coat. Those shorts are so short! She brings unique meaning to the term "new moon"...
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
"I'm out for good..."
Woman across from me, apparently just released from jail/drug rehab, talking on the phone with her daughter for the first time in what sounds like...months? touching and poignant conversation. Amazing what you can learn and discern about someone just listening to a 15 min cell phone chat...
Light-Rail Etiquette
My light rail etiquette wish list: 1. If you are going to serenade us in the aisles, please refrain from singing songs that include frequent uses of the n-word, the b-word and the s-word. 2. When the doors open at the train stops, it's for people to board and get off, not for you to practice sptting out to the sidewalk. Gratefully, a fellow passenger. :)
Early-Morning Exchanges
A mother sings "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly" with her two little girls, their sweet little voices carrying all through the cab; a couple arguing about how cold it is here vs. other places ("you're from Chicago-this ain't cold! So shut up!"). Friday morning on regional transit....
"Yer on the train? Prove it!"
Guy is on cell phone, talking heatedly to his mother, trying to convince her that he is REALLY on the train - "MOM! I'm at Power Inn! yes! really! I'm not lying! it's called power inn! PUH-OW-UR INN, mom! No, I'm not lying! Now we're at 65th, mom. 6-5, mom! No, I'm not lying, mom, there really is a 65th street stop! Maawwm!!" Weds. morning on regional transit...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)