I’ve pretty much worked out the logic behind converting my commute to a Park & Ride/LRT combo (see last week’s post). Unfortunately, I can’t get out of my parking contract until the end of July, even if average global temperatures jump 10 degrees. I decided, however, that before I jump through that flaming bureaucratic hoop I better make sure I’m committed.

Now I have a pretty good imagination, and I’m far from inexperienced when it comes to using public transportation on a regular basis. The fact is, however, that I haven’t used the bus for years. The possibility remains that there might be some noxious experiences on the LRT that I haven’t imagined or anticipated that might make the overall cost savings seem ultimately insignificant. Hence, I decided to take the LRT every day this week to further field test my new plan before giving notice of canceling my parking at the end of the month.

This morning: everything was fine and dandy. A beautiful, soft morning in June.

This evening: There were plenty of seats to choose from when I boarded at the Nicollet Mall stop. I chose one of the somewhat elevated seats and proceeded to dig out my newspaper from my briefcase. Two tattooed teenage girls got on and sat in the seats diagonally behind me. One had some music device that was playing hip-hop loudly enough to be heard by everyone in the car. I thought the current fashion in music devices was to wall yourself off in a socially autistic manner inside your iPod earbuds. This was definitely audible, however. Perhaps it was indeed an iPod, but cranked so loud it could be heard outside the ‘buds. She may have turned it up so she could hear it over the volume of the conversation she was having with her friend. It was not a comely conversation. Everyone else, however, seemed to be pretty much ignoring it, so I tried to create my urban shell around myself and do the same. I had a strong hunch these young ladies were on their way to the Mall of America which, unfortunately, was past my stop. As it turns out, my stop was indeed before theirs.

As I got out up to disembark it crossed my mind to say something mean to our would-be entertainers. Based on their grammar, their language, and the nature of what they were listening to, however, I decided their lives were already going to be hard enough without me piling on.

I can’t wait to see (or hear) what tomorrow’s commute bring.

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