Train Travel

Occasionally I have to travel up to Philadelphia for work and the preferred means of transportation for our company for a this trip is taking a train.  I actually enjoy taking the train most of the time, I like the quiet of the quiet car, I like having a few hours to myself where I can tune everyone out.  I really like it when the trains aren't packed and I have my row to myself.

A few weeks ago I had to make a quick day trip up to Philadelphia, pretty standard fare.  I arrived at Union Station early in the morning to grab a train and head on up.  The station was packed and the train was no different.  I headed straight to the quiet car and hunkered down as quickly as possible, within minutes the train was packed and I had someone sitting next to me but he seemed to understand the unstated preference that I didn't want to talk so all was good.

We hadn't even left the station before the elderly woman in front of me starting coughing.  Before we got to Baltimore, she was getting dirty looks from the entire train for the amount of coughing, sneezing and sniffling she was doing, made all the more obvious because we were on the quiet car.  As I sat there praying not to get sick by the germs being violently ejected from her body, it made me wonder why on earth she was even traveling.  And if she had to travel, why wasn't she wearing a mask?!?

Is this really what people think of strangers now?  No level of human decency or modicum of respect for others?  Or was she just completely unaware of the fact that she was spreading germs?  She had cough drops with her so she obviously knew she was sick, but that didn't stop her from getting on public transportation without offering anyone around her any protection.  She did even bother covering her mouth when she coughed, she just sat there.

Bah!  Sometimes I struggle to understand how some humans can be so considerate and thoughtful and some can be so awful.

Rude to Strangers?

I have been driving a car for over 20 years and have noticed some changes during that time.  Some of those changes are obvious, seat belts come standard with a lap and chest belt, dashboards are no longer bare metal, cars and trucks are much smaller in length than they used to be and backseats are still big enough to get into trouble in.  What I've also observed is that drivers, on the whole, are a heck of lot ruder than they used to be.

I am not saying that in my younger years I never encountered some road rage, or had it for that matter.  Of course snarky people existed 20 years ago as they do now.  What I have noticed however, is that people driving these days seem to have a lot more of it.  People honking more, and cutting each other off more.  A huge increase in tailgaters and hand gestures, nasty faces and harsh words thrown about.

It makes me realize that sometimes, I'm one of those people too.  Life seems to move faster now, I find myself often in a hurry to get no where that important.  I arrive in a foul mood because some stranger smote me in traffic.  All for no apparent reason that holds up when I stand back and take a look at it.

So next time someone lets you in front of them, even if it is a merge, give a little wave.  You never know whose day you may be making better, it could even be mine!