Amusing Yourself

You could say that I amuse myself catching the train by thinking about catching the train & how people amuse themselves. That's not quite true, because I can multi-task. I might listen to a recorded lecture, or else read, or do puzzles, or play my musical instrument (!)

This means that I have a bag full of stuff that I can resort to. For all that, no single item is particularly bulky, & only the instrument requires space to wield, so I only do it when the train is mostly empty.

Some people don't take that attitude, though - they have one thing to do, & they're going to do it no matter what. Everyone's familiar with the person who opens up their briefcase & works on their laptop as if they have the whole seat to themselves. I also have a regular chap play games - not just simple board games, this guy has a joystick & plays football, for example. He has headphones on, & goes for the whole experience. He does this on a crowded train, & he sits on the aisle & has to get up to let someone sit in the middle of the three-seat.

Then you look at the attitude of these people - some quite happily shrug as if to say "I know I'm taking up more than my share of the public transport, but what can you do?", others turn embarrassed to the window & "hide" their amusement furtively - those watching DVDs, for example.

With the proliferation of smart phones & the like, people are more used to wrapping their world around their eyes & ears & ignoring the rest of the world - or worse, hoping that the world will ignore them. This is very sad. We're no longer catching public transport together, we're just moving in the same general direction at the same time.