I cannot tell a lie. I love being a commuter… as long as it doesn’t involve me driving a car into a city full of brake lights and traffic signals. Also, I really don’t want to deal with pedestrians like me, who walk the streets like I own them. But, that’s just the mass transit snob speaking from within.

I’m a visual obsessive person. I love to watch… anything, really. People, landscapes, waves at the beach… I can sit for hours and just watch. If there is one thing that I truly learned when I was in college, it’s that I am a visually oriented person. When I’m taking a test, or trying to remember something I saw, you would notice that I look up… it’s like I think I can see into my brain. But, I’m trying to remember how it looked on paper. And, it can be a great thing! It can also be the worst possible scenario for people.

So, worst case scenario: I can walk into a room and notice anything off center or out of the ordinary almost immediately. If I’m walking into my own personal spaces, I can tell if something isn’t like I left it (which is why many of my roommate situations haven’t worked well). Some call it obsessive-compulsiveness… I just like to think of them as tendencies.

But, in a best case scenario, I learn from what I see. Everyday on the Metro, I experience life… reality… and not on the latest television show, where everyone is trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. It gets ugly sometimes, but overall, it’s amazing to see what I do. Call me the optimist. But it’s the little things along the trip that make it worthwhile.

Take for example: graffiti. One of my favorite pieces of “art” is at the Brookland-Catholic University stop on the Metro. In simple spray-painted words, poetry comes alive: “Don’t call me a vandal. I just like to paint. This is my creative addiction. I just want your Metro ride to be fun!” Who knew that graffiti artists weren’t just in it for themselves.

Another graffiti pieces says, “Bush hates Borf.” In all actuality, it’s true, or probably true. In Washington, DC, Borf has become the poster child for the liberal, radical bohemian rebel (he has his own freakin’ Wikipedia page). Protests have formed in honor of this guy, and people have gathered to back his art. It’s funny how one phrase can become such a political argument… or the simplest idea.

I must admit, I’m addicted to my line. It’s a nice ride… and not as noisy as some of the others. And, as silly as it probably sounds, I still love riding the trains, whenever and wherever… it’s always a chance to take in the scenery.