I still remember my first time. Honestly, I am not sure if it happened earlier or later than my peers. I never thought about it beforehand. It just happened. I remember the majority of the details, and I remember being very nervous. I woke up early to do it, and I enjoyed every second of it. See, I was 9 years old. And my mother was there.
I am talking about…my first time…riding the CTA. In this case, it was the Brown Line train. My whole life, I have lived within rock throwing distance of the entrance to the Brown Line train station (and to put things into perspective, I do not have a strong arm). I have always felt a sort of connection to the CTA. A camaraderie. It was always the backdrop to my heydays of playing outside. The tracks are a mere 30 feet from my front door. I used to climb them as a kid. With my friends, we had this makeshift game that really only consisted of throwing a ball over the passing trains to the other side. That’s it. There were no winners or losers. Well, actually the only loser was the ball—and my pride—when I failed to clear the roof of the train (again, remember my deficiencies with throwing). The point is that the train has been with me since the beginning. Whenever somebody visits my house for the first time, and they hear the “loud” train passing by, he or she asks me, “Oh Wise Zach, how does one as awesome as yourself put up with the ever present racket of the train? Surely it must become annoying” And I tell them, “Listen my child, you are correct in your statement. I am Wise. However, as with anything in life, one adapts to their surroundings. And I have. With the train.” Granted, my friends never hear me over the passing of the train…but…oh well.
So, that day, when I was 9 years old and I boarded the train for the first time, I was on my way to my Mother’s workplace. From waiting for the train to come all the way to exiting it at our stop, I found it as mesmerizing as anything. I thought that the way we zoomed all over the city, in between buildings and underground, was exactly like the video games I used to play. I found the people on the train, on the platforms, waiting for the bus, I found all of them spectacular. I still take the train and bus to this day. I was on it today and I will be on it tomorrow. I am one of countless individuals to take it. When I am on the train, I read or listen to music. If I am tired, then I will sleep. But I also watch everyone. I like to think I am a people watcher. Hey, if people can watch birds and not be weird, why can’t I watch people? I mean, I don’t peek into their bedroom windows and I don’t stare them down, but I definitely watch them, and observe how they act. And I have noticed that every single kind of person rides the train. There are people worth money, and people who spend their time on the train begging for some. Every race, creed, social class, etc rides the CTA. People ride it to work and they ride it to their place of recreation. They ride it to see their children and they ride it to school. They ride it for fun. They deface it. They steal the maps off of it. They ride it at all times of the day and night.
Obviously because they are the first thing I see when I board the bus, I always look at the bus driver. I can determine rather quickly if he or she is enjoying their day. Think about it. The bus driver has to put up with everybody. If somebody is obnoxious, it ruins everybody’s ride. But you are eventually getting off. The driver must stay there, listening to this person. I just give them kudos for doing so.
And besides, they are courteous enough to get me from Point A…to Point Z. Even if they do charge so dang much!
