transport motorways and tramlines

As I proclaimed in the last post, it's been nice to get back into a workday schedule. I jump the bus at 8:30-ish and again around 5:00. Eventually, I'll get a bike for non-rainy days, which should cut down on my transit time. I'm also considering running to or from work. It's flat and then downhill going to work, so I won't get too tired, and there is also a mini locker room/shower attached to the bathroom closest to my lab, if I find that I get too sweaty. On the other hand, I can run home and get more of a workout. Two of the guys that I work with occasionally run home, and their route goes near my house. Also, Megan works nearby, and she's offered to run home with me. This makes sense, since her daughter will usually be at my house if she's at work that late.

I find that I'm not much of a bus person. I appreciate that so many people use the public transportation here, and it's usually pretty convenient. It's just that I use the bus at the busiest times of day, and I go right through the university district. This means surly drivers, lots of cell phone gabble, and jockeying for the few available seats. I pass the trip reading the news on my phone (or reading journal articles) and listening to music. Most of the time, there's no interaction with anyone, which feels somehow simultaneously right and wrong. I want my personal space, so I respect others' personal space, but it feels kind of pathetic and lonely at the same time. It's the Western world way, I suppose. I do try to exchange a minimum of pleasantries if someone sits next to me, or if my seatmate is getting up to leave. I figure that it's better than shifting my eyes away and leaning to one side as if a ghost just passed on one side.

Leaving work the other day, I hurried to the bus stop, not wearing my headphones. A man at the bus stop struck up a conversation about the crossing light, and I gamely participated. I thought that he worked in my building. Then he said, "Well, since we're being social...are you worried about global warming?" Sensing a trap, I said "I'm not exactly worried about it, no." Of course, once he had started, there was no dignified way for him to abandon ship, so he handed me a business card-sized piece of paper with a website address on it, and harangued me about his idea of an alternative energy solution for the next five minutes. He got more animated and louder as he went on, and I struggled to tie off the conversation by summarizing what he had said and promising to look into it. I got the distinct feeling that he was using me to broadcast to the bystanders at the bus stop. I tried to use body language cues to signal my desire to bring it to a close (avoiding eye contact, laughing inappropriately, doing jumping jacks, etc), but he was having none of it.

Once the bus arrived, I got on and searched in vain for a place where we couldn't carry on the conversation any further, but anyplace that there was only one available seat (on the aisle) was matched by an available seat on the opposite side (on the aisle). I plopped down into one, pulled out my phone, and began pushing buttons and staring furiously at the screen. Somewhere, out there, a bomb was about to go off, and I needed to hack into the mainframe at the evil hideout and disable the device. From my phone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him pull out a 3-ring binder and begin flipping through it. Convinced that he was about to show me further evidence of his obsession, I slipped on my headphones and began nodding my head to the silence. Eventually, he either found a different seat or got off. I felt kind of bad about the very obvious (and passive-aggressive) brush-off, but I do hate being solicited in the street (not for money or a sale in this instance, but for positive reinforcement and word-of-mouth support). I feel like both parties are demeaned by the process. In summary, I conclude that headphones are a pretty good idea, even if you have no music playing. Remember, kids: you can stupidly smile and nod your way out of undesirable social situations if you wear your headphones. This includes cologne-drenched 19 year-olds at cell phone kiosks, random people with clipboards, bums with coffee cans, and guys with ideas-so-crazy-they-just-might-work.

Have a great weekend!