Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Singing Alone on the Train

I was getting on the metro yesterday when something strange happened. For the most part, there is an accepted code of conduct on the metro. Locals sit there, trying not to catch anyone's eye, spacing out and avoiding human contact, unless they know someone on the train with them. In that case, chatting quietly is permissible. Teens frequently chat loudly, rather than quietly, but that's teens for you. Tourists try not to fall over, try to figure out what stop they're at/going to, and talk loudly to the people in their group. Ones who have been to DC try to show off their knowledge.

But yesterday, there was a guy who didn't do any of these things. Instead, he got on, singing along to his music. This was enough to catch my attention. Then he started air drumming and I started wondering if I should move to a less crazy section of the train, particularly as he beat out a fast rhythm on the metal bar. I didn't; instead, I put in my earphones and watched out of the corner of my eye. And by the time he got off, I was a little jealous. Not of air drumming. I have no desire to air drum. But his complete lack of caring. He could care less what we thought of him. He just was happy to be there, happy to be himself. And that has an appeal to me. Maybe in a few years, you'll find me riding around, doing whatever I feel like, singing along to my music.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi rebecca. this is my hometown. and , alas, it has always been kinda (well, not kinda) staid... conservative. self conscious...i hope for your sake you don't lock yourself into this "when i am older and/or retired, i will be myself" a lot of folks here fall into... its bad for your soul.
im strongly thinking about moving. in part, because this uptight environment is getting to me. all the best to you-

reuben-

Rebecca said...

Thanks, Reuben. When I said a few years, I more meant it in recognition of the fact that becoming that comfortable wiht myself will take time, not that I'll put off trying to do it until then. It's true, though, that DC is in large part about appearances. Maybe we can help the town get over it. :-)

Belle said...

Oh man, I'm always secretly jealous of people like that. One of my former bosses would always put her headphones on and sing her heart out (off-key, of course) in our very quiet office, which was not so much an office as a huge, open space with about 40 computer terminals. Of course, it really annoyed me. But I was also a bit ashamed of myself for not having the gumption to go through life without a thought about others' perception of me. Perhaps we'll get there one day!

Anonymous said...

I love this story. So cool. :)

Being a regular user of other major cities' Els/Subways/Tubes, I don't think the "metro-silence" in DC is that much different from other cities, but it may be a teeny bit more extreme.

That said, sometimes it's easy to tell when a "Left Coaster" is on the train. I remember seeing a woman talking to an apparent random stranger on the train a month or so ago (I eavesdropped on their conversation). When she got up, she said (to the stranger) "maybe I'll see you out there if you make it out to the West Coast" (yeah, turns out she was from the "Emerald City.")

Rebecca said...

Belle: I used to do that, when I was little, in the car. Drove my brother INSANE. It was a great way to start a fight on a long trip...

Anon: DC is still better than London. I swear, people stared at us on the Tube for chatting quietly or smiling. They looked dead or something. I think in general, though, it's a symptom of commuter fatigue. Anywhere where there are large numbers of people using public transit to get to and from work...

mmafan said...

Rebecca,

I think no matter what mode of transportation we take or where we take it, be it bus, train, whatever, there is bound to be those walls around us. Get a lot of strangers with places to go, compressed into a small space, it doesn't set the stage for a friendly atmosphere.

Furtheremore, I feel this is magnified even more in DC due to, as Rueben mentioned, the uptight environment here.

I remember a few weeks ago our train was stuck between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom, and I went out on a limb and joked "I should have brought my dinner". I actually got a few laughs, much to my chagrin, even though I was well aware it's no laughing matter being stopped and not getting any indication from the train operator. We were on our way in 10 min, nonetheless.

Rebecca said...

mmafan: Yeah, every once in a while, people dare to talk to each other. Usually when something goes wrong. I swear, there were a few weeks there where every other day on the train, someone told me about how in Tokyo, they have train-stuffers. It was a little strange. There are also rumors of people meeting and later dating off of train meet-ups, but I remain skeptical.

Singing Lessons said...

That's awesome. WE all should have the confidence to go singing on the train :-)