I am getting a little sick of the metro. I noticed this today when I was rudely shoved off of a crowded metro car while en route to class very early this morning. The door literally closed in my face. I know that we all have places to go, but really, no need to be rude! After that little incident, I was a little mad, but it got me thinking about the Parisian metro and how it can suck away all happiness from a person.
Observe the entrances to metro stops. One will likely see people hugging, laughing, giving bisous to friends, and just chatting. Descend the stairs. Swipe your metro card and walk to your platform. Now observe. Most likely, you will see people standing around texting, listening to ipods, reading the newspaper (probably with really depressing headlines), staring at wrist watches, or just staring blankly on to the bland, white tiled wall of the metro station. I ask this question: where did the happiness go? I will admit, I have fallen in to the Parisian habit of having the expression of wanting to kill someone while riding on the metro. I just think I would look really awkward if I sat on the metro grinning for 45 minutes straight. I am sure it is like this in large American cities as well, but why is the metro so depressing? I think that it is because there is no sunlight. Also, the lack of bathrooms doesn't help the situation, or it doesn't in my case at least. Maybe the metro riders are just focused on their tasks at hand, and are too busy to look nice or try and give someone on the metro a smile.
I just think that I would enjoy the metro a lot more if it didn't seem to suck out everybody's soul. This post is a little long, sorry! And I tried to delve in to the French psyche to unravel the mysteries of French culture, so hopefully I was successful in that quest.
1 comment:
a. long posts are great!
b. don't forget to tie to culture/reasons
c. really interesting observations Ellen B!
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