Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
The "L"
Riding the "L" is always an experience for me. Sometimes it's fun people-watching and at other times the noise and filth are just plain annoying. But, most of the time, I just zone out and let my thoughts carry me somewhere far away. A few weeks ago I did not have this option.
The reason? Well, I had the privilege of twisting my ankle, while running to the "L" in the rain, during the hype of rush hour. Once I boarded the train, I was further honored to have an obese man sit next to me as I suffocated between his fat and the window. Due to his size, the man's extra layers were invading my side of the seat, and to avoid feeling the dampness of his clothes (i'm assuming from the rain) I felt the need to tighten my muscles and push myself against the wall. Normally, a person would sense that they are invading someone's space and attempt to pull their limbs together to accomodate the other person. But, unfortunately, the man made absolutely NO attempt during the 40-minute ride to draw his body together.
As the outbound train progressed, people got off at their destinations and commuter traffic began to clear. But guess what? The fat man kept sitting next to me...even after the train was half empty!!! Had I not twisted my ankle, I would have excused myself and sat in one of the empty seats as soon as they became available. Luckily, I was able to distract myself by staring out the window for the last 15 minutes of the ride.
After a painful 40 minutes, we both got off at the last stop. I can't help but wonder: what was this man's rationale for continuing to sit next to me even after the seats on the train had opened up?
1) Did he think he was doing me a favor? That I would be offended if he got up and left my side? Seriously?
2) Or was the dude just lazy?
3) Or did he just think that I was one of his extra layers?
****Would it be an act of discrimination if the CTA started charging travel fare by the pound? I personally feel it is unfair that I had to pay the same fare as the man who sat next to me.
The reason? Well, I had the privilege of twisting my ankle, while running to the "L" in the rain, during the hype of rush hour. Once I boarded the train, I was further honored to have an obese man sit next to me as I suffocated between his fat and the window. Due to his size, the man's extra layers were invading my side of the seat, and to avoid feeling the dampness of his clothes (i'm assuming from the rain) I felt the need to tighten my muscles and push myself against the wall. Normally, a person would sense that they are invading someone's space and attempt to pull their limbs together to accomodate the other person. But, unfortunately, the man made absolutely NO attempt during the 40-minute ride to draw his body together.
As the outbound train progressed, people got off at their destinations and commuter traffic began to clear. But guess what? The fat man kept sitting next to me...even after the train was half empty!!! Had I not twisted my ankle, I would have excused myself and sat in one of the empty seats as soon as they became available. Luckily, I was able to distract myself by staring out the window for the last 15 minutes of the ride.
After a painful 40 minutes, we both got off at the last stop. I can't help but wonder: what was this man's rationale for continuing to sit next to me even after the seats on the train had opened up?
1) Did he think he was doing me a favor? That I would be offended if he got up and left my side? Seriously?
2) Or was the dude just lazy?
3) Or did he just think that I was one of his extra layers?
****Would it be an act of discrimination if the CTA started charging travel fare by the pound? I personally feel it is unfair that I had to pay the same fare as the man who sat next to me.
Comments on this journal
Random CTA event of the day for me: While I was waiting for the red line, I sat on a bench next to a woman who did not have anything obviously off about her. (She appeared to be middle-aged, middle class, not drunk and not wearing a plastic bracelet indicating that she had just left the hospital or anything like that.) So we're just sitting there when she taps me on the shoulder and asks, "Do I have the right to live free?" I felt uncomfortable and started to check myself to see if I had inadvertently done something to offend her, but I couldn't think of anything. She could tell I was confused so she added, "Everyone lives freely; do I have the right to do so, too?" So I was like, look lady, I think it's a huge assumption that everyone else is "living freely" but I don't think there's any reason you would be less than equal. She said, Thank you. And then I said that I hoped that no one was attempting to oppress her. She said that unfortunately that was the case and thanked me for my concern. Then after we got on the train, I noticed started talking to this other guy. I didn't hear what she asked, but I heard her thank him, too. Probably taking a survey. Weird.
I don't think I can get on board with charging some people who take up more room than others more on a common carrier like CTA, but sometimes I do wish that some kind of public shaming mechanism can be created to deter people who talk too loudly on their cell phones or to keep big groups of drunk cubs fans from trying to chat up everyone under the age of 60. Gross.
Manas - i'm not sure if you are aware that some of the airlines had decided to charge double the fare for an obese person to travel...i guess you are suggesting they do the same for buses and trains.