1. Reading this article really upset me. One reason is that though I do not want to account for the author's color of being the reason why he sits alone on the train all of the time, if he is otherwise nicely dressed and seems as approachable as anyone else on the train, I cannot account for any other reason. This upsets me because, well jeez, I would have sat next to the guy no problem. I find it ironic that though New England was the place that slaves escaped to from the South, there aren't many African Americans in New England, and in my experience subliminal racism is as awful there as it is anywhere. After reading the article I'm no convinced that the reason for the empty seat is because the author is black, but I can't think of any other reason it would be. Though I have observed this similar situation on the bus before, and I have had situations where, for some reason, the seat next to me was left empty though it was clear it was available when people chose to stand instead. Did I smell or something? I don't know, after while I noticed that many people on the bus choose a seat to themselves rather than choosing to sit next to another person. I've done this before too, but it was because I didn't feel like talking, and I chose not to sit down next to someone for feat they would be a chatty Kathy and I would have to participate when I didn't want to. I have noticed that when riding public transportation, most people prefer a seat to themselves. I wonder if, considering the area to and from which the author was commuting, perhaps people were choosing to sit by themselves, so that they too could have extra room for their briefcases and such. Is is disheartening to consider the fact that this man's seat is empty because of his color
2.Whenever I avoid sitting next to someone on the train or bus, it is mostly because I don't feel like engaging them, and though I am only assuming that they would even speak with me, choosing a solitary seat or to stand is usually because when I use public transit I don't often like to speak to people. I have certainly had times of prejudice where an unkempt individual has a free seat and I choose not to sit next to them. I think my objections to sitting next to them can be seen as prejudice, but mostly it's because I don't like to openly socialize in intimate public places, and I admit, I am afraid to take any responsibility if something happens during my interaction with this person. On the other hand, I met one of my best friends on a train and I had no choice but to sit next to her. She had one side of her head shaved and the other long, and I saw her sneaking beers out of her backpack and she had asked one of the attendants where she could go to drink them. I had just gotten done with the Appalachian Trail, a hike that took me 5 1/2 months to complete. I was in absolutely no mood to speak to anyone, much less deal with running water and electricity. The girl's name was Tauna, she offered me a beer and I took her up on it. When she offered me the beer, her demeanor was so sweet and genuine, I immediately liked her. We went to the lounge car to take in the scenery and have our beer and it turned out we were going to be on the train together for several hours. We spent the next several hours of that trip getting to know one another and laughing, sharing stories and pictures. I am still friends with Tauna to this day, and she remains one of my best friends and I love her dearly. We met so organically and our friendship is so wonderful and almost magical in the way we met and immediately got along and kept in touch over the years. If I hadn't sat next to Tauna, my life wouldn't be any different, but it would certainly lack its luster without her in it.
* PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT* I would just like to take this opportunity to to say I LOVE THE TRAIN! Train Travel is a serious part of our heritage, culture and legacy and anytime anyone has the opportunity to take a train trip, please, please, please, do yourself and your family a huge favor and take the train! It's cheap, super friendly, amazingly scenic, there is WAY MORE ROOM than a plane, it's way more comfortable, you can get up and move around, and taking the train has a massively lower carbon footprint than flying on a plane. I don't know why we don't have a better train system in this country, I love it and I want it around forever. Perhaps as a Historic Preservation major I will make train preservation my thesis.
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