Metro Love

I recently moved here a few weeks ago from the Western side of the states. To my surprise, the culture here was the same kind I left 800 miles ago. I blended into this area quite easily – quite easily until I stumbled upon a type of culture that was hard to embrace.
My only fear in life is tow trucks and parking tickets, so when I heard about this hip ride called “The metro” which to me it sounded a lot like the people mover at Disneyland, I thought I might venture. When I first arrived to the metro and saw the sign that said, “Kiss and ride” I knew that this place was for me. I was further amazed when I was handed a free daily paper (and a free smile) of the latest local and national news.

I felt like a passenger about to board the love boat. I was a little taken back by the price I had to pay to ride the metro but I figured it was worth it to ride in style. When I finally entered the metro I saw the sign “No littering” which impressed me on the importance of cleanliness this ride had on the environment, but when I saw the sign “No-eating” I was slightly taken back on how one could survive such a trip without a granola bar.

I didn’t make it in time to grab a strawberry-red seat but I didn’t mind because of the huge amount of standing space there was. While standing, I observed that no one made eye contact with each other and there was zero conversation. I was scared to call anyone to tell them of the thrilling news of where I was in fear of breaking the concentration of the man in front of me furiously studying the back of his seat. Soon we arrived at more and more stops and the car was getting more and more crowded.

Before I knew it, I found myself squashed against the wall in a mix of bags, bodies, perfume –and I’m pretty sure I got a hint of body odor. As we continued onward, legs aching and a strong urge to eat a granola bar, we headed straight towards a tunnel that gave me an instant flashback of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory when they entered the tunnel of nightmarish images. This wasn’t your typical people mover. More people boarded, and the sudden stops and goes made me feel a little queasy and I easily confirmed the body odor lingering in the air. Finally after many attempts to hold onto my bag, keep my balance and hold my breath, the sea of people soon parted. I was finally able to take a seat and glance at my crinkled newspaper. One of the articles was on a proposal for the metro to add an extra ten for each ride. “Just what I wanted,” I sighed.