People that Metro to Work Are Often Angry
January 21st, 2007
People that Metro to work are often angry. No one wants to ride the metro everyday. No one wants to be there and why would they? I doubt anyone would bypass an opportunity to drive a car to work. Traffic, gas prices and road rage aside the flexibility and convenience one has with their own car is unparallel. Those who have the pleasure of driving (or being driven) to and from work often take it for granted. If you say no, then you’re lying. I took that privilege for granted until now.
I was recently in a fender bender which amounted to a much needed $2,500 repair of my car. I live in Northern Virginia but work in Bethesda, Maryland which presented me with quite a transportation quandary. Most people have a rental car option along with their automobile insurance….I did not! Bollocks to that! Metro Here I come!!
Taking the Metro to downtown Bethesda has become an extremely arduous process for me. The Metro is an extremely efficient way to get around the city and surrounding suburbs. On the other hand my Friday morning commute to work took almost 1.5 hours. I’m not against taking the Metro, after all it “Opens Doors”.
On the train, I sat next to someone pretending to read a book. The problem is I love to people watch. I’ve taken solace in the fact that I can watch people riding the Metro without feeling like a fool. The expressions on everyone’s face are comical to say the least. Everything from a young Capitol Hill staffer thinking “Does he really like me or am I wasting my time with him?” or a 40 year old well dressed man, reading the Financial Times contemplating his future at a company he hates.
In the middle of people watching, I faintly hear someone a few seats ahead singing out loud and more disturbingly out of tune. Looking up was only the next logical thing to do. Like a car accident on a rain slicked road. I knew better and I knew not to look. I looked.
A poor man’s K-Fed with his eyes closed was singing a horrific American Idol version of “Lean On Me”. After listening to this fool, I needed someone to lean on as well. Well, at least my ears did. White hooded sweat shirt, white Adidas tennis shoes and light colored jeans. At 8:30 in the morning, can you imagine this fool singing “Lean on Me” out of tune? I was beside myself and I instantly donned a face of discontent, misery and displeasure. I then realized that I had become whom I once mocked. I’ve become a member of the masses of malcontented Metro riders. Parsed lips, squinting eyes and a viral scowl. That was me on Friday. The inhumanity of it all. I’d write more about my insane journey to work, but I have to get ready to take the Metro!
Ebong
info@ebongeka.com
ebong.eka@gmail.com
PostScript:
I listen to Cat Steven’s “Tea For The Tillerman”, whilst writing every new blog entry. “Bring Tea for the Tillerman, steak for the sun, wine for the woman that makes the rain come….”
Entry Filed under: Bollocks