A Few Days of Adventure

As a request from my family I am obliged to write about the many things I have seen and experienced while riding the trolley.

The trolley is a wonderful mode of transportation for those who may not have a car or other means of getting places. It may not be the speediest way to get someplace but it is convenient and easy. Typically red in color it is easy to spot while out and about. On the trolley one may, and probably will, meet many interesting people and possibly have many interesting conversations. I, for one have encountered countless amounts of interesting people on their way to interesting or not so interesting places and plans.

Three days ago I found myself sitting next to two Hispanic women who were talking loudly on a cell phone that they passed between them. They seemed completely unaware of the setting around them as they were wrapped up in their own conversation. As they talked and laughed along with the person on the phone I heard a new conversation starting.
A woman sitting with two men, that I guessed were her friends, started to express her frustrations loudly to another friend on the phone. Upon another study of her and her companions I noticed red eyes and the sleepiness of their bodies. Whether those were caused from drugs or a long night only they know. The woman continued to rant about how a man was going to file for a divorce against the friend she was talking to because the friend and her boyfriend allegedly would not allow him in to collect his possessions and left him only a small back pack and a blanket. I have no idea who that group was nor did I know her friend and quite frankly none of the situation was my business. I tried not to listen but she was talking so loud that I am sure everybody on the trolley car who was not listening to music could hear the situation. It made me wonder at her lack of care for the situation being heard by others. I was tired of the drama so I turned my attention back to the sounds of the trolley and hoped she would gain sense and speak of it in a more discreet manner.The two ladies sitting next me exited the trolley at their stop and another woman got on. She picked a seat across from me and as she was about to sit down I noticed an ice cream cone with some ice cream and a spoon in it sitting in the corner. I warned her so she would not sit in it. She thanked me and asked me who it belonged to which I didn't have an answer for. She got up from her seat and said that she was going to throw it out the door. I tried not to laugh as I thought about the unsuspecting people on the other side of the door walking about and minding their own business. I was about to tell her just to leave it but thankfully for the unsuspecting people outside, the trolley had started to move and the doors would not open.She saw my book bag and started to talk about going back to school. She was an older woman who confessed that she was intimidated by computers. As we talked about computers I wondered how many others shared her feelings. Technology and computers are becoming so user friendly it is a wonder that anybody could be afraid to learn how to use it. Maybe the problem was that they never were told that it is so easy to learn now. The older woman got off at her stop and I was left to think about our conversation. Thankfully the loud woman was quietly sitting with her companions and stayed that way until the transfer at Old Town.
Everybody got out and bustled to the other trolley car that would be continuing on the same route. It was so full that it was standing room only. I was able to find a spot in front of the doors that would not open along the way. On the way to my stop few people got off and many people got on. It was so bad that at one point one shorter woman was practically standing on me. She had entered the trolley car with her daughter. The woman stood directly in front of me almost leaning on me as if I were some sort of pillar. Throughout the ride she constantly kicked my foot as if I were in the way. There was no place for me to move. All she had to do to create more room for all three of us was ask her daughter to move over a foot and then she could have stepped forward giving us room to stand. Instead she seemed content to hit me with her big black purse every time she turned her body and not even apologize. She did not beat me with it or anything of the sort but since it was on her shoulder any time she turned it would run into me. When it came time for my stop I could not get out quickly enough. I had to ask somebody to open the door for me so I would have time to get through the crowd without the trolley leaving.

Two days ago I had to ride the trolley at night and my parents were nervous about it since I am a woman and I was going to be alone. I got out of school and I walked over to the trolley stop. I had just missed the trolley I wanted to catch but when the next trolley came up I didn't wait. It was cold and rainy outside which I love but that trolley stop was like a wind tunnel so it was very windy. So I got on and when it arrived at American Plaza I got off so I could wait for the other line. The temperature seemed to drop a lot as I waited for the trolley. I didn't pay attention to how long I waited but it seemed like an eternity before the next one showed up. When it arrived I quickly hopped on and found a seat. As the trolley made its way to Old Town all was quiet on the trolley. I don't know if it was just because it was night time or if everybody just wanted to be home. At Old Town I transferred to the next trolley but they decided to reduce the trolley going that way to one car. We all waited patiently and a man came storming in. He started yelling about how he hates that they reduced it to one car. He threw himself down on an empty seat and practically threw his bags down and around himself. I had the misfortune of sitting across from the irate man. I turned my music up trying to block the man out but then I heard banging over my music and I looked up to see him banging his head against the glass as if it would help the situation. It was actually a scary situation just how angry he was. He continued to hit his bags and huff and sigh angrily until we finally started to move. I heaved a sigh of relief thinking that it would end his tirade of anger and frustration. It didn't end it but he did calm down at least somewhat. As we were moving I could smell him and it was not a pleasant smell. He continued to bang his head against the glass every so often and move his stuff as if they were uncomfortable where they were on the ground. Finally my stop came and I practically ran out of the trolley. As I walked home from the station I thought about his anger over something that was annoying only because we had to wait so long but otherwise he had found a seat right away and was able to sit comfortably. I hoped that he wouldn't cause trouble for the other passengers because he seemed liable to explode on anybody he deemed to look at him funny.

Yesterday I had a very pleasant trolley ride. Before I got on though one of the trolley cops approached me and asked me a question. I had my headphones on so I took them off, apologized, and asked what he said. Then he asked if I had my ticket. I struggled with my book bag to get it open and when I did, I grabbed my wallet and took out my ticket for him to see. He said that hoped if other people saw him checking tickets that they would go and buy tickets instead of trying to get on without one. I thought that was a good idea. He thanked me and continued on his way. On the way to Old town on the trolley my nose was accosted by a very unpleasant smell. It was the smell that we all know and makes our nose wrinkle in displeasure. It was the smell of our good buddy the skunk. It lingered in the car and I was only able to escape when I had to transfer to a new trolley. After that the ride home was pleasing.

Today on my way to school I met a man name Joe. He was a nice older gentleman who was on his way to check his mail. He asked me if I was playing a game on my iPod. What I was really doing was writing this entry. I told him that I was writing about my experience on the trolley and he liked the idea and said it would definitely make for interesting reading. I laughed and then we talked about things that we have seen on the trolley. He told me about how once on the trolley he had seen a fight break out and there was a lot of yelling. Thankfully I have never experienced that and I hope that I never will but one never knows when it comes to the trolley. Joe talked about how he had been drafted into the Army and had served in Panama. He told me about the country he had seen there and told me that he loved his experience there. It was a very interesting conversation and I hope that I do run into him again.
On my way home I was actually able to find a seat but before I even got on, these two women forced their way on in front of me and ran to an empty section. I was pleased with the seat I found though so I won't issue any complaints there. As I looked around I saw that anybody who wasn't joyously talking to somebody else looked glum and perhaps even a little lethargic. It's amazing how so many people can ride the trolley and still not seem to care about their fellow man around them. I have seen many people come on the trolley that are elderly or disabled and hardly anybody will offer their seat or offer to help them. What I want to know is what happened to courtesy? Like when an old woman is standing there why don't the young men offer their seat anymore? Even if she declines their offer, it is still the polite thing to do. It all comes back to caring about one's fellow man.
I think that the reason a lot of people don't offer to help each other out any more is because as a society we have learned not to trust strangers. Maybe we are afraid that if we offer to help they might not have really needed it or we will be taken advantage of. Nobody likes to feel trod on and it's sad that when we reach out to help out somebody that sometimes it is a lie. Those people who lie ruin many people's trust in others. I talk only about the little everyday help not major crisis, but I digress. The rest of my ride was quiet. The only thing I saw that was amusing was a man that had a bike with him. He had very long brown hair and a beard. He didn't appear to have a helmet. The way he sat suggested that he was very shy and that he often kept to himself. That itself was not amusing but what he had to occupy himself was what amused me. In his hands he held a blue Nintendo DS. I smiled when I saw it and I was tempted to ask him what game he was so wrapped up in but I was afraid I would startle him. What amused me about the situation was that be appeared to be older than me. I don't mean to say that older people don't play video games but I just hardly ever see it in public. Aside from that my ride home was uneventful.

There is a couple days worth of adventures on the trolley. I hope to come on every day that I ride the trolley with new adventures and observations I come across. Until the next ride,
Alana