Oh Public Transit...

I have a bit of a commute since I changed jobs. Most of the time I don't mind it, because I can catch up on my reading or call a friend. Once I catch a bus and get on the red line, it usually only takes me about 20-30 minutes to arrive at my stop. This morning, however, it took over an hour to get to my stop. Every time the train stopped it would open the doors, let them stand open for awhile, shut the doors, then open them again. Multiple times the train stopped in the middle of its course saying that there was a 'crew on the tracks.' I was going crazy, not in the mood to read and had left like 4 voicemails because, apparently, no one was in the mood to talk....

The only thing that kept me from going insane was the company in my car. On one end of the car was an older gentlemen with a gray beard. He kept standing up and yelling about random things- I could never really understand what he was saying. Across from me a young couple was sharing an iPod, drinking coffee that was inside a 1/2 gallon soy milk container and taking turns rolling cigarrettes out of their bag of tobacco. They kept eyeing me suspiciously, like any second I might steal their large bag they kept on their laps while rolling....On the other end of the car, there were 2 older men yelling across the aisle about US history. I started listening around the US/Cuban Missile Crisis and they took me (and everyone else) through Castro, Vietnam, Russian relations, the Confederacy and finally the 'white man' and the slaughter of the Indians. The lady next to me wanted to make sure she was heard above the ruckus, so she was screaming to the girl sitting next to her about her purse and red lipstick.

Though frustrating, a fairly entertaining morning...