Okay, shades for avoiding any and all unwanted eye contact…Check ….. Headphones to blare my music and separate me from all audio outside contact…Check……Coffee to camouflage the potpourri of colognes, cigarette and general body odor…Check…..Book to make me seem busy, detached from any form of conversation….Check…..I am now ready for the train!

I know that I am new to the whole public transportation system; I often will ride my bike an hour each way to work to avoid a busy cramped space full of people in a bad mood from starting their work day or in an even more miserable mood from the end of it, but I just can’t get past how uncomfortable and non –user friendly it is. More buildings rise in the downtown core, less area to drive or park, more expensive fines for parking, grid lock rush hours…it is all part of the master plan to coral us to public transportation. One would think this would be a good idea. Less pollution, more of a community effort, all of us putting our best foot forward, instead it is inconvenient, uncomfortable, and unattractive.

If it is not the person with too much perfume and not enough deodorant sharing not only his seat but yours as well, it is the fighting children accompanying their nanny who has deciding on the liberal technique of conflict avoidance rather than the confrontation of her wards. If you can actually overcome the obvious physical shortcomings of the environment, then you had better come prepared with the exact change for the ticket machines as no change is offered. I understand that public transportation is for the masses and is aimed at quick and efficient transportation rather than comfort and cleanliness but there seems to be this happy medium that is not only being missed, it is being destroyed.

Solution? The actual transportation services need to allow for all of the extra traffic it is acquiring each day. The community is following the rules the city is setting, and yet the system is the same. More trains, newer station areas, better ticket systems, cleaner cars…..As for the users: If you are so aware of the environment that you are committed to public transportation, how about a bit of commitment to the individuals using it. Don’t shower with perfume, try using just one seat, talk in your inside voice, control your kids, and above all…understand that just because some one is taking the same mode of transportation as you, does not mean it is an open invitation for conversation.

Phew, that feels better already! Can you tell I had a bad ride in?