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riding the el home at rush hour
May. 5th, 2005 10:40 pmPreviously, I've taken the el from downtown at 4:45 or 5:15 and figured I'd seen the worst of it already. Perhaps today was worse because of the Metra foul-up down south. But today I left Downtown Office at 5 pm on the dot, missed one train because I failed to dodge or trample the obligatory Old Lady With Cane, and thus was at the front of the crush for the next train. I oozed in, and since there were so many people behind me I got nudged into the treacherous aisle mid-train. The nearest pole was being hogged by a lounging young skater dude with an iPod, so I grabbed a seat back and hung on. (I was also violating train etiquette by carrying a bag that stuck out more than 6" from my body. It was my tote bag, stuffed with brochures, which weighed about eight pounds and kept pulling me off balance.) We swayed and bounced and rattled. I made it through three stops just fine, then the young man sitting in the seat below me got up and offered me his spot. I declined, because I was only two stops out and I was afraid I'd get stuck there in the middle of the car and miss my stop. He sat back down.
We rattled some more, and then as the train went around that sharp curve between Grand and Chicago I lost my balance. Not only did my bag swing around and thump someone in the back of the head, but I ended up in the lap of the man who had offered me his seat. I apologized several times and tried some sheepish humor. "I guess I should have taken your offer," I said to the man.
"Yes, you should have," he said, looking perturbed.
I got off the train at the next stop and switched to another car.
**************
Today I interviewed an intern candidate over the phone for the summer position. (Yes, I went all the way downtown this afternoon to MAKE A PHONE CALL.) I managed to crack up my co-interviewer at work by raising my eyebrowss at a particularly spectacular double entendre which I'm sure the candidate did not intend. My eyes lit up and I scribbled with glee "CURRICULA!" on my interview sheet, because I've finally found someone besides my college advisor who uses the word correctly. And I got to engage in silent games of, "You ask her that!" "No, YOU ask her that!" without looking stupid in front of the candidate. I felt like I paid much better attention to this interview because I was able to be honest with my facial expression. I wonder if I could get away with phone interviews for the folks who live in the city?
An hour later, I got to watch a blind man with seeing-eye dog busking for change on the subway platform. I considered giving him some change until he began singing--even the dog laid its ears back. The expressions on his observers' faces were fascinating--there was the quick scan of the sunglasses and the belongings, confirming that this was a beggar and was he really blind? When they spotted the dog and decided he was really blind, they became far more open about staring at him. A couple just gazed at his hat of money. One of them approached his dog, thought better of the idea, and retreated. One woman kept glancing over at him in some disgust, then looking away so no one else would catch her staring at him. More than one man put change in his hat (which was tethered to his tambourine to prevent theft) and one man threw change twice. As the train approached, a woman spoke to him and he asked to borrow her eyes, holding out bills and asking her what the denominations were. They were all singles, she told him. "Really?" he said. "Nothing larger yet?" Perhaps that was the second stage of his pitch--I missed her response. Considering how the train ride went, I should have stayed to watch.
It's amazing what faces we make when people are not looking at us. I wish sometimes I could turn off people's eyes, and react however I want to the things I hear and see and smell and feel. I wonder what I would notice then?
We rattled some more, and then as the train went around that sharp curve between Grand and Chicago I lost my balance. Not only did my bag swing around and thump someone in the back of the head, but I ended up in the lap of the man who had offered me his seat. I apologized several times and tried some sheepish humor. "I guess I should have taken your offer," I said to the man.
"Yes, you should have," he said, looking perturbed.
I got off the train at the next stop and switched to another car.
**************
Today I interviewed an intern candidate over the phone for the summer position. (Yes, I went all the way downtown this afternoon to MAKE A PHONE CALL.) I managed to crack up my co-interviewer at work by raising my eyebrowss at a particularly spectacular double entendre which I'm sure the candidate did not intend. My eyes lit up and I scribbled with glee "CURRICULA!" on my interview sheet, because I've finally found someone besides my college advisor who uses the word correctly. And I got to engage in silent games of, "You ask her that!" "No, YOU ask her that!" without looking stupid in front of the candidate. I felt like I paid much better attention to this interview because I was able to be honest with my facial expression. I wonder if I could get away with phone interviews for the folks who live in the city?
An hour later, I got to watch a blind man with seeing-eye dog busking for change on the subway platform. I considered giving him some change until he began singing--even the dog laid its ears back. The expressions on his observers' faces were fascinating--there was the quick scan of the sunglasses and the belongings, confirming that this was a beggar and was he really blind? When they spotted the dog and decided he was really blind, they became far more open about staring at him. A couple just gazed at his hat of money. One of them approached his dog, thought better of the idea, and retreated. One woman kept glancing over at him in some disgust, then looking away so no one else would catch her staring at him. More than one man put change in his hat (which was tethered to his tambourine to prevent theft) and one man threw change twice. As the train approached, a woman spoke to him and he asked to borrow her eyes, holding out bills and asking her what the denominations were. They were all singles, she told him. "Really?" he said. "Nothing larger yet?" Perhaps that was the second stage of his pitch--I missed her response. Considering how the train ride went, I should have stayed to watch.
It's amazing what faces we make when people are not looking at us. I wish sometimes I could turn off people's eyes, and react however I want to the things I hear and see and smell and feel. I wonder what I would notice then?
