Commuter Thought No. 1

One morning during my commute to work, I stood on a BART platform a few feet away from an escalator waiting to catch a train into San Francisco.   Swaying from side to side, I was lost in the hypnotic sounds of Brazilian Girls while playing Sudoku on my I-Touch.  I am a seriously committed multi-tasker.  A pair of Nike sneakers caught my attention and I looked up from my exciting game to find a middle-aged African American man standing in front of me wearing a baseball cap and a windbreaker thrown over a T-shirt.  He was talking and gesturing, seemingly unaware of my blank stare.  I took ear-buds off my ears and asked in an indulgent manner, "Can I help you?"  "Does this train go to San Francisco?  You see, I am trying to get to a limousine company at Fisherman's Wharf in the city and I wanna know if I can take the next train here."  Pointing to the BART train/schedule display panel, I replied, "The next train to San Francisco will arrive in 2 minutes.  I am taking that train and getting off at the station you need to get to, so you can follow me out when you see me get off."  Encouraged, the man replied, "Thank you.  I went up to two other ladies before you, but they didn't wanna hear what I got to say.  Both ladies told me, "Sorry, not today, I don't have any."  I was wondering what they were talking about.  I guess they thought I was panhandling or something."  I found myself shaking my head and exclaiming outrageously, "That is messed up!"  But deep down, I knew that I was guilty of this at some level.

I use my ear-buds as a shield against unwanted verbal contact with other fellow commuters or panhandlers.  If I am not reading, writing or playing games on I-Touch, I stare at the moving darkness beyond train windows to avoid meeting anyone's eyes.  When has commuting become such a detached, inhumane process?  Because of so many commuters pack into BART and so many peddlers line our streets, have we desensitized ourselves and passively avoid stranger's contracts?  The man needed a simple help, and instead, we let our perception and our misguided judgment rule our lives and we ignore his harmless request.  Us commuters are all busy people and we use public transportation system to get to where we need to go, but isn't commuting a major part of our lives? Are our lives not affected by our commute?  I recall a tap on my shoulder one morning as I was typing away a story I was writing on my I-Touch memo pad, totally unaware of my surroundings.  I looked up to see a lady's face and my gaze followed her pointed finger out a BART window to see a bright rainbow hanging across the sky over West Oakland station.  My face broke into a smile to match hers and we giggled at the beauty shared.  It was a special moment I might have missed had she not chosen to share with me.  I was grateful for her spirit and was touched by her generosity.  No matter where we are and what we are doing with our lives, please take a moment to breathe in and appreciate the beauty of people around you.  Lend a hand if you can, it only takes a second out of your busy life.  We are humans after all.

 ~Photo from DailyCal.org, courtesy of Alan Wong.