The Mainiacs Meet the CTA

CTA stands for the Chicago Transit Authority; they operate the buses and trains in Chicago. Let me tell you, the L (train) is great! I haven't had too much experience with it, since we've only lived here for a few weeks and I only made three prior visits to Chicago. However, since the very first time I nearly fell right on top of a stranger back in 2007, I've loved the L with all it's jerky starts and stops.
I'm slightly embarrassed to say that i've only gone downtown via the train once since we arrived in Chicagoland, but it was fabulous! See, we live in Berwyn, as i'm sure you're aware, and Berwyn is a suburb just west of Chicago. It's practically a Chicago neighborhood in itself, but we Berwynese apparently like to preserve our separate identity. Anyways, please refer to the map i've graciously provided for you (and take note that the label "Chicago" is hovering over the loop, downtown Chicago, and all the blank stuff to the north, west and south of that word is still part of Chicago). Say my family wanted to take a nice little field trip into Chicago. We'll walk north and then west a few blocks to the Oak Park L stop for the blue line. We'll all whip out our cta passes (hopefully nonchalantly, so that we don't look like tourists), and swipe them. But wait, Dad will probably have to add some money onto a few of them, one at a time. Whoever is on duty will let our three students through with a reduced rate, along with Alyssa, our free kid. It's almost guaranteed that one of us kids will compile a few demerits because of holding everyone up. Someone is going to swipe their pass upside-down several times, I'm sure. Finally, we'll all get through, and whatever CTA worker is on duty that day will probably remember us forever. (Rest assured, this fictional adventure is in no way reminiscent of our trip downtown, last week.)
Anyways, the primary reason I enjoy using the train is because of this feeling I get. When I grab a seat on the O'Hare bound L, I'll put my earbuds in and listen to my music. Probably either My Sundown by JimmyEatWorld or Beth/Rest by Bon Iver (great train ride songs). I'll take a moment to people watch (briefly and discreetly...don't want to get pepper sprayed or anything), just to get a glimpse of who's around me. And for the next twenty or thirty minutes I'll be sitting in the midst of all these people who lead different lives and are getting off at different stops for different reasons. And I'll get this feeling that's hard to explain; almost like a sense of community, but on a bigger scale. It gives a fresh perspective. It makes me feel small, but not insignificant. Those people will all have different things on their minds, and Jesus will have different plans for each of those people. But we'll all be traveling in the same direction, for a little while, and maybe we'll exchange a smile between strangers...or a surly look, who knows. And then it's likely i'll never see any of them again, or if i do then I won't know it.
Now, I'm not one to over-think everyday things like riding the train or grocery shopping or eating a banana. Maybe this feeling will wear off after six months or a year of living in the city. I suppose I may even become a jaded misanthropist, with no imagination and a general distaste for mankind. In that case I would probably decide I hate the train, and give up riding it all together. But until then, I'll be sitting on the L with a smile, maybe asking Jesus to bless the utter stranger sitting across from me. I'll be part of this community of humanity; every single person is!