...where everyone seems to have their "stone face" on most of the time.
It's strange, but in some places, people riding public transportation actually talk to each other to pass the time. They smile at each other without freaking out.
One of the first things I noticed about the Metra ( Which I've ridden far more than the El ) is that people always have this hard, stony "don't bother me" look on their faces, and rarely speak to each other.
However, if something happens, such as a mechanical breakdown or other unusual circumstance, the stone faces crack open, and there are real human beings underneath them, with smiles and conversation even!
It's amazing to me how we ride every day on these trains in our little bubbles of stony, cold isolation. Were people always like this? Didn't people used to talk on the streets, on the trolly and on street cars? Were our ancestors braver than us, or are we all under the spooky fear spells of the TV news?
Will we ever break the spell of the Stone-Face Trains?
All the best,
Dan
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