NY Subway Thoughts

Just came back from a trip to NY.

Sittting on a NYC subway entering Manhattan, I looked around at all the different types of people going along for the ride. It's been a while since I'de been on one of these cars, but it's hard to forget something that was part of my daily grind.

Looking around, most of the prototypical people haven't changed, they're still reading their own papers and books or listening to their music. The only noticeable change is that adults are now playing with their phones instead of children and their Gameboys.

After years of hiatus, the people are still doing the same thing, sitting or standing, keeping to themselves as they head on in to work. If you've got a seat, you are just as well off as the person sitting next to you.
The guy in the suit, he's probably an investment banker, that woman, a lawyer. Who knows, maybe their just going to court to fight a traffic violation. Who knows what job awaits them when those doors open, one can only guess based on their outfit.

Sure each person will lead different lives once they leave the train and get to their offices or food stands, but for now, Mr. Executive, you are no different than Mr. Carpet Cleaner.

Only in NY can people with dramatically different pasts and dramatically different futures actually come together in one dynamic present. When the train shakes, it shakes for all. When that passenger with that exotic (read: wretched) scent comes in the car, everybody experiences it.
But in a city like Los Angeles, you won't find such mixed breed together in one place. The subway in LA just doesn't have the infrastructure like the NYC system. In NY its quicker, economical and less stressful to ride the train than to drive your car. In LA, even if I'm sitting in the same traffic jam as the other person, I'm still experiencing it differently, whether its in my Bentley, Mercedes, Toyota, or Hyundai.

As I sat, I wondered. Here, on this not so quiet ride, the differences of our focuses are negligible, we are just sitting on the train. The bumps are the same, the ads are the same, and the people are more or less the same.

And so as we sat and stood together, each with our own destinations, I can't help but wonder the differences of each rider, which may only begin once those doors open.
Different, but the same, as the quote goes: Everybody's equal, but some are more equal than others, but only when they get off the train.