Quinn goes green -- for one morning anyway.

I've always had convenient excuses to not take public transportation to work -- I had to be to work too early, or it would take 3 bus transfers to get me there -- but lately that has changed. I got the new job at Edwards, which is smack dab between two Trax stations -- a 10-minute walk in either direction. Now, with a Front Runner station a couple of miles from our house, and Front Runner hooking in with Trax downtown, it's about as convenient as public transportation can be.

So this morning I decided to try it out. I missed the 6:23 train, but ended up on the 6:53 train. The ride into Salt Lake was smooth. I was relieved that I couldn't see our house as the train drove by -- the lights inside the train were too bright. So when I'm walking around the house in my underwear in the morning, I know that nobody on Front Runner can see me. I could just close the blinds, but why should should I have to change? Our house was there first.

I hopped off the train in Salt Lake and found two of my coworkers on the platform waiting for Trax. It was a relief. Now I knew I wouldn't get lost, at least.

Anyway, the fun part of the trip was the long ride from downtown to Midvale. I enjoy 'people watching' and public transportation is a fun place to do that. The people on Trax all fell, without exception, into one of four categories: sleeper, socializer, reader, worker.

The workers: you all know these guys. They've got laptops perched precariously on their laps. Perhaps they're already making cell phone calls. They can't possibly take a break from their precious, precious work.

"My precious! Nobody touches my precious! Precious budget charts! Precious TPS reports!"

The sleepers were the most fun to watch. I personally can't sleep well in public areas like this specifically for this reason: everyone looks like a doofus when they sleep. No exceptions. There are varying degrees of doofusness (slobberer, open mouth-guy, snorer, head bobber) but they all look silly.

C'mon. Just plain silly. C'mon. This dude (or girl -- I can't tell which) is probably really cool while awake. But look at him/her right now. Silly.

The socializers are already on the train with someone they know or, worse, make friends on the train and then talk to them nonstop. Socializers may also include those making personal phone calls throughout the trip. I think everyone agrees that the most obnoxious form of socializer is the loud talker. This is the guy who talks so loud that everybody else within earshot is forced to listen to what he's saying. You can try to read, you can try to sleep, but regardless of what you're doing you inevitably end up on what this guy is saying. And what he's saying is usually something ridiculous, too.
"You just KNOW the government is covering up the technology to run engines on water."

The readers are the ones who aren't bullwhipped enough to actually work for their employer before they step into the office, aren't mad at the world for having to get up early to catch their train, and who either ride alone, or just want to make some leisure use out of their time. Readers are the ones least likely to go crazy and shoot up the train. The three of us heading to Edwards were reading three distinct items: a textbook, a science fiction book, and Reader's Digest -- I'll let you guess which one was me.

"I say, old chap, this is the most delightful tome of literature!"

So, in conclusion:
Pros: no gasoline used, free ride (work-sponsored Eco-pass)
Cons: it took me an hour to get to work vs. 20 minutes in my car, including a pretty nippy 10-minute walk.
Verdict: still unsure.

Quinn