Prior to living in Japan I had never been fully exposed to the glories of public transportation. And while the efficiency and cleanliness of JR East has likely spoiled for life my judgments of public transpo, I intend to be an appreciative and satisfied patron for quite some time. I'm currently doing a solid job of it, what with my car parked in Mundelein and ridiculous gas prices inspiring me to leave it there for many moons. Yesterday, while experiencing the stylings of the #70 Division eastbound bus and seriously enjoying the antics of the driver and my fellow passengers, I was struck by the different forms of entertainment available to Japanese and American riders in their respective countries.

The most entertaining form of train antics in Tokyo was definitely the wide range passengers falling asleep in awkward and revealing positions, i.e. with heads back and mouths open, leaning unabashedly on their fellow riders, or bobbing their heads in a state of oscillating sleep/wakefulness. Other forms of entertainment included: lasses busting out huge cartoon-decorated mirrors and artfully applying/touching up their makeup regardless of others' proximity, men perusing pornography (cartoon or otherwise) or other cleverly concealed literature, women wearing yukata (and men in jinbei) during fireworks season, drunken salarymen and uni students being hoisted between two slightly-more-sober comrades and, if this does indeed count as entertainment, being totally smashed up against people/glass/metal and trying not to feel awkward.

On the CTA, though, the entertainment is much more varied and often involves conflict or anger. First and foremost I notice that my fellow Americans are not afraid to look me in the eyes during my travels, meaning that my travels often leave me wondering whether I look particularly good or particularly bad. Yesterday's trip involved a heated (and totally baffling) shouting match between the driver and a disgruntled patron much to the enjoyment of everyone on the bus who could see/hear the whole ordeal. After the shouting match, enter stage right: a fellow with a totally souped-up haircut and some amazing jewelry who appeared to know about half of the bus. He rode about one block, all the while eating french fries, telling questionably funny jokes (?) and causing gales of laughter amongst his cohorts. On the *same* bus the driver asked me for directions as I got off: "hey, do you know where there's a library around here? I'm supposed to park there if I'm ahead of schedule." Ridiculous.

So the moral of the story: public transportation provides a worldwide civic stage, and we should all love it for that.