#metrotalk

[metrotalk]

#18- “So... that’s it?”

Many journeys start and end and we only know where we started and ended when we look back on our lives. Unless you’re exploring or lost, this typically isn’t the case on Metro. There are stops dotted all along maps in terminals, stations, and vehicles. You get on a bus or train with the intention of arriving at a destination of your choosing. But more often than not, where the journey ends isn’t truly the end.

The rides I remember the most are the ones where I get to see people I care about. I think the proper term here is “friends” but don’t quote me on that.

They’re almost never the rides that something amazing happens to me because suddenly I become the stories I write about. The guy that’s excited to see people he haven’t seen in forever and can’t wait to tell anyone willing to listen. The guy that smiles every time he looks down at his phone. The guy that will gush about how great the friends they’ll see are.

A while back I had the pleasure of spending a day with two of my most beloved friends. I wish I could tell you about the ride there and back and all the fascinating things I’d seen, but I’d be lying if I said I remembered any of them right now. All I remember is the sound of their laughter when I told a particularly bad joke. I remember the look in their eye when they saw something that piqued their interests. I remember the way their voices filled the air. I remember the way they walked along, looking at the city. I remember the observations they’d make and the things they said.

It’s odd for me, having written about strangers here for so long, to suddenly talk about people I know. I’ve always tried to notice as much as I could about people. There’s something about the way people carry themselves that words don’t have to explain. Seeing it in strangers always humanized them further for me. But when I see it in friends, it’s another thing to fall in love with about them. Even if it’s not an action-packed adventure, things as simple as silence tell me about friends. Happy or sad, to see these people I care about being as honest as they are with me is a gift I can never repay. They help me grow and help me make sense of the world.

And when strangers do it with me, I feel so trusted. I feel that our lives become inextricably linked together, if only for a moment. I’m gracious that they allow me to be a part of their lives, even in as an innocuous way as telling me about their day. It feels safe and it feels good. The stories I see are one thing, but the stories I hear have all the details that I don’t have to speculate. I get to see the world through their eyes.

I know who ever reads this may be thinking:

“So... that’s it? Is there really no Metro story here? It’s just you being sappy and rambling?”

Part of you is right. I haven’t written here in so long, so it feels weird to continue where I left off. It’s been at least a couple years since I’ve posted here. I want to share this piece because I’ve grown since my last post. There are still stories to share, but I had to take a second and remember the people that have helped change me and helped me grow. A chapter in my life is coming to an end and another will be beginning, but I want to come back to this with fresh eyes and mind.

I had a sad Metro story about friends and traveling, but let’s just start off with some reflections before digging deep in the drafts in my head for stories. Let’s also see if my writing improves!

Also, forget the format from before. We’re going to just have some fun catching up here. After my exams, though. Hope you’ve all been well. It’s nice to be here again.

[metromesses]

I’m not much of a sex’s rights activist, and in no way am I affiliated with any particular groups of any kind when it comes to matters in regards to sexism, but I’ve recently been bothered by something and I felt the need to share it as a male.   I am an average consumer of Axe products. I wouldn’t go as far as to call myself a fan of their products; they’re inexpensive and they do the job for me. But one bottle in particular has bothered me to the point where I removed it from my shower and gave it to a friend to use because It bothered me to look at it on a daily basis.  Axe men’s body wash, particularly the bottle marked Apollo with a blue lightning streak, has a tag on the back of the bottle that promotes a lot of ignorant things in one simple sentence. “It’ll make you the center of any girls universe.”  That’s a cocky statement, isn’t it?  It bothers me because I remember being a teenager and thinking that the way I smelled greatly effected my chances of even so much as befriending a girl much less getting a date, so I was prone to buy things I thought were strong because it was advertised as the kind of scent that made you masculine. Brands like Old Spice, and things of the like. It’s the kind of thing that makes you feel even uglier if it doesn’t work if you’re the shy or or easily discouraged type. It wouldn’t help any young kids self esteem to purchase this under the idea that it’d make him into some super sexy guy, and make him attractive. It instills a sense of hope in ego-less boys that only backfires and in some cases turns them into the /other/ type of person who wears this kind of stuff. The asshole guys.   They believe that this makes them hot shit, and get frustrated if it doesn’t work, believing that any girl who ISN’T captivated by his axe lathered body is just completely insane. Guys who think that all girls are so stupid they just /gotta/ love a guy who smells like apollo.  This kind of advertising is annoying and very hurtful to the development of any young man, and just plain disrespectful on it’s own. So please. If you’re going to buy Axe? Try the white bottle ones that smell like Forrest or lavender Night. They’re wonderful, and don’t have such ludicrous one liners like that on them. 

[rodwey2004]

#Southbank #biker #skatepark #graffiti #Easter #EasterMonday #landmark #southbanklondon #metrotalk More photos at http://bit.ly/1K5yYO9 (at The Undercroft)

[rodwey2004]

There goes the #sun #nofilter #sunset #Landmark #StreetPhotography #iconic #sunrise #london #londres #metrotalk #RiverThames #towerbridge #iphoneography More photos at http://bit.ly/1K5yYO9 (at Tower Bridge)

[rodwey2004]

#Dumped!! Fellow #Dumpees & assorted #Losers, I've found a place where we can gather and set up our very own #luxury #commune at the #heartbreakhotel #onsea #RiverThames @eveningstandardmagazine #metrotalk #StreetPhotography #london #Landmark @visitlondonofficial More photos at http://bit.ly/1K5yYO9 (at North Greenwich)

[metrotalk]

#17- "I think she's still breathing..."

I've had a lot of trouble falling asleep the past few days. It's very strange; so many things have been crossing my mind. Things from my past (of course) and things that the future holds have been keeping me awake longer than they should lately.

I'll blame the heat for the restlessness, but it's still been a little unnerving.

I hope you all understand that while this is a blog about my Metro experiences, it's also where I'd prefer to be more personal than in my actual personal blog (funny how that works).

Anyway, one of the things that has been going through my mind is things that have happened on Metro, things that I haven't gotten around to writing about on here. I talk a little bit about the fears I have in this post from a ways back.

But on the 2nd Purple Line train, I saw that people were coming out much slower than from all the other cars (is that what I call the section of the train?). I was already close to the last car, so I was able to hear people talking.

From only the little I was hearing, someone was acting strange on the car, but I didn't know what they meant by "strange." Sure enough, one of the women came out of the car and went over to one of the guys who works down on the platform and went over to express concern, pointing in the direction of the very back of the car.

There in the back was a homeless woman, hunched over on the floor with her belongings relatively close to her. She wasn't moving very much.

Keep in mind I didn't enter this situation; I watched from afar while waiting for my train to come.

So the guy who the woman talked to went over to the homeless woman. I walked a little to the side to better see what was happening. I could hear him telling her to get up and that the train was already empty. She didn't budge.

The man proceeded to tap her on the shoulder, which she replied with falling over with a thud. But it wasn't a dramatic thud. Something was wrong with her.

The man got startled and walked outside and called one of his coworkers and he proceed to do the same thing and she wouldn't respond. They both walked outside and security greeted them and proceeded to stand outside the doors of the last car.

Funny how life works, because a nurse happened to be sitting near all this and asked if she could check on the woman. The officers let her through, the woman with her bottle of water and her folder full of papers. She sat next to the woman and proceeded to check if she was okay.

i didn't listen in too much, but I distinctly remember her saying:

"I think she's still breathing, but she needs medical attention I can't provide."

A few minutes later, as my Red Line train arrived, the medical crew arrived as well.

I don't really know what happened to that woman, hunched on the floor. I only remember the medical crew walking into the car as we left the station.

And that's one of the thoughts that's been in my mind. These... things, I guess. Being fortunate enough to be alive right now. And thinking about things I've seen not only on the streets, but even just on the Metro. How we talk a big game about how we want to be great people, but then we just kind of just stare or walk away from things that are bad.

That's a generalization, of course. Not every one does that. But I think we can all say at one point or another we've seen something happen that we do nothing about. I know I have and I've done stuff to change that. I've had my moments of being a good human being. But I know I've had just as many moments where I kept quiet and did nothing.

When you think about that sometimes, it's not hard to understand why I have some trouble falling asleep. College is one thing, but life is a whole different thing to tackle.

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I guess that was a story I should have told a while back. Just never got around to it. I'm not exactly satisfied about how this story turned out, but I hope you got the gist of it. I may post older stories I haven't talked about before since they're new to you all. I'd just like to say that if you see someone in trouble or in a situation that doesn't seem right, take some sort of action. There's lot of ways to do it without going over to punch a bad guy or becoming a doctor. Just thought I'd say that. Have a pleasant day, folks. Smiley face.

[metrotalk]

#16- "Hi everybody, and a very pleasant evening to you, wherever you may be..."

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog of mine, early February as I might recall. I apologize for not posting as often as I'd like to. Truth be told, I've been neglecting this blog for a while.

This blog offered me a comfort of telling people about my experiences in a way that seemed tangible to me. But there was a time, as noted by my lack of updates, that it stopped being fun. I realized that starting the blog wasn't an obligation, rather it was something that was just a pleasure to do.

Getting feedback, seeing people enjoy the posts, getting a satisfaction of doing what I love to do... it left me feeling good and I recently realized I want to continue doing it.

The story I have to share related to my little realization that I want to continue to tell stories. Vin Scully recently announced that he is planning to return for his 65th year in the booth for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014.

As a die-hard Dodger fan, I am thrilled by the news. I hate to dive into sports conversation on this blog too much, seeing as this is Tumblr and it's not exactly the most interesting things for the folks on here, but I really have to.

Mr. Scully is the link between generations of fans. Many players and figures prominent in the MLB have come and gone and have left their mark on the game of baseball in a very special way. We all talk about who was the greatest and each generation will have a different say as to who that "greatest" is.

But the beautiful thing about Mr. Scully is that he, in my eyes, is truly the greatest at his craft, in all it's glory. There may be someone touted as the next Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle or Walter Johnson, but there will never be another Vin Scully.

When I'm on the bus in the Spring and the Fall semesters of my college classes, there are evenings I get the opportunity to listen to Dodger game broadcasts on my phone. Yes, there may be things going on on the bus that should warrant my attention. but for those first three innings of a broadcast, I, along with millions of others, get to listen to the voice of a man that has seen so much happen in the game.

"Hi everybody, and a very pleasant evening to you, wherever you may be..."

It takes me back to the times when I was a kid back in East L.A., listening to the broadcasts on a transistor radio. "AM 790 KABC, your home for Dodger baseball" the announcer would say. I would even listen to Jaime Jarrin, another fantastic Dodger announcer, broadcast in Spanish after those three innings. But it took me back to those wonderful moments in the middle of the summer, sitting in the driveway just drinking a glass of ice cold lemonade and trying to fix the antenna to get the white noise away.

I think I speak for most, if not all Dodger fans when I say that Mr, Scully was pretty much family. My family, of course, are not baseball, let alone sports, fans. But I became a fan listening to these games.

And then I come back to the bus and look around. The people wearing their Dodger gear. The grandfather with their grandson, explaining the game. "A Whole New Blue" ads plastered around the city. The tattoos that scream Dodger pride.

Mr. Scully influenced many of the fans of yesteryear and of today, and listening to him call the games with such eloquence and poise is a true honor.

He's done it for 64 years and done it well. I think I could post a little more often than once in a blue moon.

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i know this was a fairly long post, but I hope you take the time to read it. I will make the effort to post more often, not that I'm obligated to, but I feel I owe it to you all for following me and owe it to my self to share the stories. I hope you all enjoy this post and I'll be talking to you all later. Smiley face.

[metrotalk]

I did it. I finally found one of... THEM.