bennji said...
bennji said...
I'm not really the typical commuter train customer.
I like
getting onto a crowded commuter train that only has a few open seats left.
Because the last open seats are next to the jerks that are going way out of
their way to take up a whole seat bench. They put their bags on the seat next to
them, they sit on the aisle and bury themselves in a book or laptop so they can
pretend they don't notice the feeble old women and handicapped Vietnam vets
standing around them with no place to sit. I like picking out the most jerk-ish
looking one, the most unpleasant scowling weasel, and making them pick up all
their belongings and move over to make room for me. I just love the way they
take one look at me, and then look around the train, and you can see the
unspoken words form on their open mouths: "Anyone but him."
getting onto a crowded commuter train that only has a few open seats left.
Because the last open seats are next to the jerks that are going way out of
their way to take up a whole seat bench. They put their bags on the seat next to
them, they sit on the aisle and bury themselves in a book or laptop so they can
pretend they don't notice the feeble old women and handicapped Vietnam vets
standing around them with no place to sit. I like picking out the most jerk-ish
looking one, the most unpleasant scowling weasel, and making them pick up all
their belongings and move over to make room for me. I just love the way they
take one look at me, and then look around the train, and you can see the
unspoken words form on their open mouths: "Anyone but him."
I like to
think I provide a valuable social service, that next time they'll not hold out
until someone like me shows up, but will be more hospitable to their fellow
travelers.
think I provide a valuable social service, that next time they'll not hold out
until someone like me shows up, but will be more hospitable to their fellow
travelers.
Or maybe I'm
just mean.
just mean.
But getting to work usually cheers me up. Happy Friday.
bennji said...
I'm talking
to my boss Eran the other day, and I mention I have ducks and geese that come up
into my back yard from the river. And Eran asks, "Don't they poop* in your
yard?"
to my boss Eran the other day, and I mention I have ducks and geese that come up
into my back yard from the river. And Eran asks, "Don't they poop* in your
yard?"
And I just stare at him. I'm like, "Dude, I have to step over human
vomit every morning to get from the subway past the corner pub to the office.
And I'm supposed to be bothered by goose poop?"
Definitely a
difference in perspective. But neither is right or wrong, just
different.
difference in perspective. But neither is right or wrong, just
different.
I'm a
country mouse, and don't really think twice about animal droppings, beyond
something like, "Oh, hey, looks like the wild turkeys stopped
by".
country mouse, and don't really think twice about animal droppings, beyond
something like, "Oh, hey, looks like the wild turkeys stopped
by".
Eran, on the
other hand, is a city mouse, so he doesn't think twice about rolling in human
filth and squalor.
other hand, is a city mouse, so he doesn't think twice about rolling in human
filth and squalor.
So there it
is, primeval forest or human detritus, pristine nature or cesspool, take your
pick. There's no accounting for taste.
is, primeval forest or human detritus, pristine nature or cesspool, take your
pick. There's no accounting for taste.
* BTW - He didn't
actually use the word poop, but there may be children visiting this site, and
while kids today are quite comfortable cussing like sailors, they get all
twitchy with words like poop, testicle, or congress. Actually, maybe it's me
that congress makes twitchy. I mean, do people still let their teenage children become congressional pages? Isn't that like dangling them by a rope into the crocodile pit?
actually use the word poop, but there may be children visiting this site, and
while kids today are quite comfortable cussing like sailors, they get all
twitchy with words like poop, testicle, or congress. Actually, maybe it's me
that congress makes twitchy. I mean, do people still let their teenage children become congressional pages? Isn't that like dangling them by a rope into the crocodile pit?
final leg of my daily journey into work is on the MBTA
Red-Line.
on at South Station. Lots of fashionable, attractive, beautiful people get on
the Red-Line at South Station. Unfortunately, they all get off two stops later
at Park Street. I don't.
continue on the Red-Line. The next stop is Mass General Hospital, where all the
people with temporary medical conditions making them unattractive get off. From
there out it's people stuck this way for life.
stop is M.I.T., where people spin their physical and social deficiencies into
academic gold.
off at the next stop, Central Square. There are many beautiful, attractive, and
fashonable people that work in and around Central Square, but I don't know how they get
to work. They certainly don't come in on my train.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007