Up Front

I did something on the subway that I couldn't believe I'd never done in as long as I have used it. First I was indifferent to what car I got on. With some experience, I determined that the one at the far end towards which one must backtrack from the stairs or escalator is preferable, as few people get on there in ordinary circumstances. Well, I think I may have a new favorite. Crowded or not, no car is more fun than the lead one.

Sitting anywhere else, you are basically blind in a sealed capsule. There are windows, but nothing to see through then except when at a platform. Otherwise, you see nothing but the people and things within the car, funny ads and maps included. That being the case, I read, listen to music or watch the people around me. To that I add a new possibility when in the lead car, because you can actually see where you're going. It's really something.

You realize that for the driver of the train, it is not traveling through a blind void. Rather, the train hurtles through a tunnel replete with signs and signals just as if one were driving on streets way up on the surface of the earth. They are different signs and signals, but they are reference points nonetheless and make it a rather fun thing to do rather than a mundane one, for mundane indeed the subway can be for a jaded rider like myself.

I don't know how much effort I am prepared to go through in order to ensure that I get that car. I wouldn't risk missing the train altogether, that's for sure. I also don't know that I would be prepared to brave a car laden with unpleasant or dangerous-looking characters, who are always to be avoided no matter what kind of a nice place they are in. All things being equal though, I think I like looking where we are going down in the subterranean train-scape.