I have already posted some thoughts on taking buses. I am sure at some point I will break down and ride them like everyone else. But for now I have drawn that line.
I drew another line about two weeks ago...I don't run after trains. If I am walking to one of the stations and I see that my train is about to take off...to bad. I will catch the next one.
Maybe that is because I know the next train is only 10 minutes or so away. Or maybe its just nice to have a few minutes to yourself at the end of a busy day - listening to your iPod while waiting on the next train is not such a bad thing.
However after watching several people run (frantically I might add) after their trains, I started getting a bit introspective. Why am I not compelled to do the same? Isn't my time valuable?
No...that isn't it.
Now don't get me wrong, public transportation is fantastic. But let's face it...someone else IS driving and the last time someone else was driving any of us around it was probably our parents.
Grown ups are supposed to drive..not ask for a ride or wait for a ride or look at their watch and HOPE their ride shows up on time. Now consider that same ride taking off and leaving you and you having to run for our life to catch it....it's degrading and I am just not going to do it.
Buses are still for losers. Running after train makes you less than a man. Period.
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5 comments:
It's an interesting observation. No Italians ever run for trains. Ever. All trains are five to ten minutes late leaving and all Italians were five to ten minutes late arriving. It was a perfect system.
English trains leave on the minute. And all Englishmen are running late all the time. So they all run. They look like idiots.
As for me, I only run if it is the last train of the day. I totally agree about relaxing and waiting for the next one. If it is less full, even better...I get to sit down.
But I do disagree with that you say about adults having to drive. It seems to me that if I had enough money I would have a driver...all the time...forever. Think of all the time we waste driving for ourselves! And trains are more reliable than traffic, by the way...I look at my watch much more often when driving to appointments than I do when taking a train or bus. The illusion of control one has when driving might be just that. Walking or biking could be the only truly "free" form of travel. You really get there when you want...according to a speed you choose freely.
Isn't all transportation, therefore, in some since, public? Unless you live in a desert and drive off road to work...or swim...in a natural body of water...you are always using some form of transportation planned and paid for by the community.
I am on the fence about a driver. Part of me says if people like Mel Gibson and Brittney Spears would just hire drivers they wouldn't be in half the trouble they are today. They have plenty of money and what is wrong with relaxing in the backseat of your own car?
The other part of me keeps calling up memories of Pauly in the Godfather. You know...Pauly gets "sick" and the next thing you know Don Corleone has 8 bullets in his back.
It's funny you should mention Mel, the boozer. I think that, with a doubt a doubt, the best two things about NOT driving for yourself (be it trains, buses, taxis, or limos) are:
1. Reading or relaxing for 20-30 min every morning and evening, rather than fighting traffic. (This all assumes you have a relaxing commute...ie trains/buses that aren't packed.)
2. Having a few beers on Friday night without having to worry about losing your job, home, reputation, livelihood, etc. And if you took public transit TO the bar, it means your car is waiting for you on Saturday/Sunday morning when you wait up, rather than sitting downtown at the bar, where you left it to catch an overpriced taxi home.
Yes, it's official, the best thing about having public transit available, is that on weekends you can have a few beers without risking a jail sentence.
Wake up, I mean.
By the way, we really can't wait to see you guys. I can't believe we are both living in the EU now...and once Milena and I get the Schengen visa, we will be dropping by to say hello. 1 penny Ryanair flights of course.
We are living in the EU, but remember the Swedes still use their currency, not the Euro. I guess you are used to that as well.
It would be a lot easier if these last hold outs would convert to the Euro. Makes travel a lot easier...
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