AND YOU MAY SAY THAT MY BEHAVIOR'S UNACCEPTABLE

I love trains! I love everything about them. I remember having this fascination with toy railway sets my mum used to get my brother, and we'd set up the railway tracks so that they would wind around the coffee table legs and pretend that the little red engine (because there was always a little red engine -- and matching caboose) was on a transcontinental journey across the living room.

most days, I have to take a 40 minute train ride to and from the city to college-- and while I may resent that the trains are always late, aren't planned out properly, and switching platforms without prior notice, I love everything else about the journey. i know of people complaining that it's such a long ride, there's nothing to do, et cetera, but for a people watcher like me? perfection.

it's funny how you notice that there are certain unspoken/unwritten "train rules" that exist and are different from line to line. for instance, on the line I usually take to school, people generally sit further apart from each other, whenever possible, always sticking close to the window, facing the direction the train is going. there is generally no conversation between other passengers (unless you're with a friend), and if there are accidental glances, you look away and keep your head down for a bit before you look up again. oh, and catching someone's eye through the reflection on the windows? awwwwkward. (unless said person is insanely attractive, and was staring at you in the first place.)

there are also the certain types of people that you generally see time and time again on the train that you learn to pick them out as soon as they enter the train. there's always the emo/hipster dude who's got jeans on that's two sizes too tight and a hoodie so big it practically swallows him whole. he generally always sits below the sign that says "Do not prop your feet up on the seat in front of you" and nearly always does the opposite. and then there is always the guy/girl that leans his/her face up on the window and starts snoring, deep in sleep, ignoring the stations that go by, but always wake up whenever the train announces their stop. and then, the most annoying kind of all, are the ones that I deem "Mobile Phone DJs", because they decide to play whatever song they like on speakerphone at full volume. the genre of music played is also almost always rap. or Nickelback.

when I mention these things to people they're like "seriously? i've never noticed." but really, if you travel regularly by train? try picking out what habits people observe on the line you're on (and make fun of them in your head). it provides for minutes of entertainment.