Mass Transit or The Hell-Ride

[myfeetshowit]

I live in Portland, Oregon and take a 30-40 minute transit ride to work each day on our fine light-rail system. This story will be familiar to those of you who bravely commute in a similar way

Comments

[cornerofmadness]

yeah this is why i suck up the gas prices and drive (well that and there isn't public transit for a 100 miles of here)

[myfeetshowit]

It isn't just the gas prices in Portland. The cheapest parking is $150 a month, and rising.

Also, I drive a truck designed to carry two mastiffs, both expensive to drive (even before the latest prices) and difficult to park.

What I really want to do is retire and move to Ecuador.

[cornerofmadness]

yeah parking when i lived in NYC or Pittsburgh was a bitch too

[myfeetshowit]

I cannot wait until they invent the transporter beam.

[bogwitch]

Very literary.

[myfeetshowit]

Literary wasn't how I felt when I got off the train. But then I calmed down and decided to get some mileage out of my misery.

[hesadevil]

Brilliant. It reminds me so much of my daily commute into London in the 1980s. Even back then, there was no room to knit without damaging someone. I fear I'd have skewered both young man and chatty woman.

This has to be the opening page of a novel. The title is in the final line.

[myfeetshowit]

I have to admit, the last line isn't really mine. It's a phrase you hear quite a bit.

This did seem the epitome of the commuter's existence. I'm not sure I could get a novel out of it though. I might try for a short story or two.

Hopefully, you had a few good memorys from those daily commutes.

[hesadevil]

Hopefully, you had a few good memorys from those daily commutes.
I wouldn't call them 'good'. They consist mainly of running down (and up) spiral staircases from one platform to another, hoping not to miss the next connection (there were 3 changes)

I might try for a short story or two.
I think this one would be perfect for a short story.

[ozma914]

That would be a great short story, or it could be turned into a novel. As far as I know, "It ain't easy being green" has never been used for a book title!

[diachrony]

I am so skeeved, I tell you. SKEEVED.

I can smell that guy. I can feel his armpit sucking on me!!

PLEASE MAKE IT STOP.

::sobs::

I feel so much sympathy for you. Gah. I'm glad I don't have to take public transportation. (I have in the past. It makes me very nervous.)

[myfeetshowit]

Ooh. A new word for me. Skeeve. I like it!

Public transportation makes me more nervous all the time. Currently, the violence has occurred mostly during non-rush hours and in specific neigborhoods. But afternoons like this one are more frequent every day.

I can't wait to retire!

[ozma914]

You know, for the life of me I don't understand why Americans seem to have turned their back on mass transportation.

[hesadevil]

::snerk::

[myfeetshowit]

I've often wondered about that myself.

::shudders::