What Do You Say To The Subway?

I take public transportation as my primary conveyance. Few people as a percentage of the whole do so, and I can appreciate that for many it's not a realistic option. I maintain however that at least some amount of the time it is suitable for all. This is born out by the experiences I have had riding a bus or train with friends who do not do so very often. The scenarios that give rise to such a broach of routine are these: the person's car is out of commission; the person considers the destination to be too much a hassle to park near. People frequently seek me out in at such times, as I am known to be the resident authority.

It's a disruption to my routine, albeit a happy one. Seldom having any company on sometimes long rides, I delve into books and my phone. I get a lot of my reading done this way, and some amount of my communication (texting, not calls in such a noisy spot). Naturally all that gets thrown out the window when I'm with someone on the subway. I say the subway because while I've gone with people on the subway numerous times, I have done so really only once on a bus, which does not attract the well-to-do rider with nearly as much success.

After the exhilaration of knowing I shall have company (which must be something like the feeling had by a moleman who receives accidental visitors from the surface), I begin to worry on their behalf. I have had much time to receive and process the shock to the system that is the combined clientele of Metro. Depending on the line, there can be many good people with something going for them, or there can be more people who are of an unseemly nature. That can be enough for many to write the thing off. Additionally, the various inconveniences and discomforts of bus and train riding that for me don't amount to as much as the general benefit appear in a different light when someone who zips around in their car is there with me to see them.

Also there is the consideration that many people I know have lived or spent time in places like San Francisco, Chicago and New York, all places with more heavily traveled, more effective public transportation grids. I do my best to put a happy face on the whole thing, and have found that my wards come out of the thing all right. In fact, the only time I have ever run afoul of a driver was from talking too loudly with a friend on a terrible 90 minute trip between two points which would take a third of the time to drive- she was a trooper, as they generally tend to be. I guess that I have picked my friends wisely. They are open-minded and practical as a rule, and that makes me happy.