Tick tock & Rahmbo

It has been a while since I last reported, and much has changed in that time, though, truthfully, much has also remained the same.  I am still me.  The earth still rotates on its axis, changing the seasons and making the sun appear to rise and fall in that cerulean abyss we call the sky. And people, well, people still ride the train to-and-fro.

What has changed is that the constraints under which I began this web log have concluded, as have my days as a scarce white face on a southbound Red Line train.  The ‘me’ I still am has now completed an undergraduate degree, rather successfully I might add (hey, a little revelry is in order considering how long it took me).  And that ‘me’ that I still am is now one of a throng of white faces lost in a shoal of daily travelers that patronize the Brown Line (perhaps a name change is in order?).  This reality is further compounded by the fact that I blend in far more now than when I wrote my first entry.  Suffice it to say it is easier to be inconspicuous when immersed in a homogeneous-looking crowd.  However, the jury is still out on whether or not that merits the proverbial bestowing of gilded wings to this Fly On da Wall…

Time frames merge into one another most days on the Brown Line.  I lose track of how long I’ve been reading, or how long I’ve been gazing out the window searching for something remotely less boring to watch. I almost lament that this line has provided less fodder for observation; though, while there seems to be fewer ostentatious characters to report on, there is no lack of obnoxicity (yes, I made that word up), even if it be of a slightly different variety.  In the not-that-distant past, my presence drew a measurable amount of stares on the “L”.  These days however, Mayor Rahm Emanuel seems to be more interesting to gawk at.  Far be it for me to be jealous of the attention he receives; I rather relish my anonymity and, preferring to remain incognito, am content to have all eyes are on him versus me.  Three sightings hardly constitutes him being a regular Brown Line rider, so his “celebrity” status still peaks enough interest compared to the other somewhat mundane 9-to-5ers crammed into that former locomotive, much like livestock on a semi headed to a rodeo. 

A peculiar force field, this thing we call time.  Many a person have ruminated on this most obscure element of nature.  Stereotypically we often speak about it in terms of pseudo-ownership: being on it (like one is on top of a table); running out of it (like one runs out of toilet paper); not having enough of it (like one doesn't have enough funds to buy Louboutins); wanting to save it or spend it (like one can store it up for retirement); give, take or share it (as though it were ever in our possession or under our control to manipulate).  It’s riveting how time can drag on, fly by or stand still, depending on your physical location and sapiens environment.  **On a totally different, yet equally riveting note, I find it amusing that sapiens is a Latin word meaning wise (to be), and/or rational.  This amuses me because the vast majority of the earth is, in my pretentious opinion, populated by profoundly unwise and irrational homo sapiens, and, though many of you might agree, to the vast majority of you this quasi-oxymoronic statement may appear highly unwise and supremely irrational in and of itself. The End.**

On average, Brown Liners (again, with the exception of Rahmbo) come across alternatively as a rather aloof and/or comatose bunch.  Sometimes I wonder if they are all under some spell (perhaps the tech trance, what with all their Pods, Pads, Crackberries, Kindlings, Pssts and the like).  Do they pause to evaluate the humanness of time, the intrinsic value of the life that stood in the very spot they now stand in, just moments, hours or day before them?  Do they think “this is the place Rahm Emanuel was just standing in” or “a homeless mother and child once sat in the seat I now occupy”?

Walking home yesterday afternoon I stood there, where, not a nychthemeron earlier, a middle-aged gentleman who was clearly battling something more than the average dosage of life’s complications, made a seemingly deliberate yet somewhat half-hearted attempt to end his life by traversing a bridge railing and dropping 20 feet into a very shallow riverbed.  This was juxtaposed in my mind with another equally vivid memory: not a week prior I sat in a friend’s vehicle just feet away from this spot, having an impromptu conversation about the transcendent beauty in learning from your life’s decisions.  Add to that the plethora of extemporaneously revelational, epiphanic, heart-to-heart conversations I’ve had inside the cars of nearly every person generous enough to have ever given me a ride home.

We like to entertain the notion that we can somehow become masters of the time and space around us and within which we live, without stopping to realize that time is actually a master of us; we live according to its constraints, its precepts and conditions.  If honored, time can be most benevolent.  Conversely, when abused, time can be a particularly insidious master.

What are we to do then with the time we are allotted?  Is it not a commodity we attempt to exploit, vigorously trying to bend it to our will, realizing only at the last minute, and probably to our detriment that…there is no spoon…?

Tick tock tick tock...

JFY 1st Monthly Volunteer Newsletter!

Check it out folks - Jobs For Youth has just pubilshed its first monthly Volunteer Newsletter!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/JFY-Volunteer-Newsletter--March-2011.html?soid=1102667877481&aid=5pnQKW70IDI

Learn why this program is important to me by checking out my blog post "Give & Get" and also by clicking on the "JFY It's what's buzzin" tab at the top of my blog, which will also tell you how you can get involved yourself by either volunteering or donating tax-deductable dollars!

Give & Get

“If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart.” – Arabian Proverb

“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Strength of Love

Hello again ye peoples! My apologies for the recent radio silence – it seems I was stricken by a serious case of senioritis last week.  Add that to a healthy dosage of final papers and presentations and you’ve got one tired Fly On Da Wall feeling rather swatted.  Nevertheless, let’s get down to business.

As some of you may know from poking around the other pages of this blog, I have been on a mission the past few weeks to both raise awareness and some money for a Chicago organization called Jobs For Youth (“JFY”).  While I’ve been unsuccessful in soliciting volunteers or generating any donations outside of my own thus far, I remained resolute in my goal to get involved on my own and so completed a volunteer session this past Monday.  After contacting the organization’s volunteer coordinator, a fellow classmate who informally introduced me to JFY, I filled out a simple 2-pg form and signed up to assist by conducting mock interviews for two JFY clients. 

During my lunch hour I popped over to the JFY office, acquired two job application/resume packets from the volunteer services coordinator and “interviewed” two amazing young ladies.  Considering I have never been on the interviewer’s side of the table before, I admittedly was very nervous.  I arrived early so I could get instructions and get settled so I could establish some level of comfort and poise but still started off feeling akin to a fish out of water.  I was given instructions to role play with the clients for about 20 minutes as though it were a real interview and then come out of character to debrief them, get their feedback and give them my own brief summary. 

At the end of the first interview I gave one piece of advice to the young woman that I had actually been implementing myself during the entire process with her – control your breathing in order to control your nerves!  It’s so simple when you think about it, and it makes a huge impact in your ability to display confidence.  Now, I’m not saying that if you control your breathing you won’t be nervous.  However, it gives you a better chance at getting oxygen to your brain that in turn helps you moderate your heart rate, which affects your breathing and speech patterns, enabling you to speak clearly, coherently, and respond in kind.  For a simple pointer I admit it does take a deliberate effort to implement, and some practice.

Both young women were so bright, engaged, friendly and full of potential.  After completing an evaluation form for each I left the building feeling really impressed and totally inspired.  Going through the process myself, getting involved and volunteering just a little of my time felt amazing beyond words.  Knowing that Jobs For Youth exists, that it provides such a valuable resource and service and enable these outstanding young men and women to acquire the necessary tools to open the doors of opportunity in their lives, is truly motivational. 

This experience has opened my eyes and my heart in a way that is tough to explain in words, which is why I chose the two quotes that opened this blog post.  Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how much or how little money you have – you always have the resources of personal time and energy to give to others.  Also, it doesn’t matter where you come from, what walk of life you travel, if we’re ever to live up to the implied standard of what it means to be the United States of America, each and every one of us needs to become more involved in the wellbeing of our fellow citizens of humanity.  We must all be social entrepreneurs, not out of guilt but out compassion and ultimately out of a sense of pride in the potential we all posses to be greater than our individual selves.  Barriers and inequalities that give rise to the need for organizations like Jobs For Youth can be permanently destroyed if we just band together and commit to making philanthropy, volunteerism, and helpfulness a way of life.

If you take anything away from this blog post, let it be this: that there’s nothing more fulfilling or gratifying than the feeling you get from giving to others without expectation.

Captive Audience

The 2011 Chicago Auto Show just ended this weekend and I’m a little sorry to say I never went to check it out.  I used to look forward to it yearly but now I’m more inclined to roll my eyes at the thought of ogling a giant showroom full of drool-worthy concept cars I can’t afford, even if they were actually available to the general public.  In fact, the only reason I even remembered the show was in town was because Dodge coughed up some pretty copper pennies to advertise on the Red Line.  Two train cars were wrapped in Dodge 2011 campaign branding: “We are Dodge and we are NEVER NEUTRAL.”  My first thought was, does that mean none of their cars have a ‘neutral’ gear? Well, that could be a problem…  My second thought was, hmmm, that’s interesting, Dodge is advertising on public transit. Just a smidge ironic…  I don’t know about all the other riders on the Red Line but I ride the train because buying a car is currently on my “to-don’t” list (Man, gas is $3.50/gallon!!!).  Or, just maybe, Dodge realized the Red Line runs parallel to the expressway where thousands of drivers commute to and from work every day…?

Anyway, seeing the wrap around ad just got me thinking about all types of advertising you see on trains and busses these days.  Some are your everyday run-of-the-mill ads like McDonald’s and Potbelly, just positioned in unique places, like the ceiling. Others get a little more creative, like a wrist watch advert on a bus hand strap, and a Real Southwest ad incorporating a QR (“Quick Response”) code that can be scanned by a smart phone after downloading the ScanLife App.  Clearly I would not be winning any trips to Tuscon, AZ from that!

One of my recent favorites is Absolut vodka – they completely transformed several bus stop shelters in Chicago to promote their new flavors: Twist, Bloody, and Lemon Drop. Double kudos on those wicked Victoria-esque chairs.  Wish they’d try that on the train too.  Come to think of it, I wish companies would integrate science and engineering into their creative advertising campaigns.  For example, PETA could promote education also if, as part of their “Go Naked” slogan, they sponsored a see-through “naked” rail car.  It could resemble those clear phones that were all the rage in the 90’s.  I’m sure there’s some kind of Plexiglass out there that would hold up and also allow riders to see the mechanical innards of the train, perhaps sparking public interest in learning more about mechanical engineering – kids would love it, no doubt.  Someone’s already made a race car prototype!

And if we’re talking about major brands jumping on the public transit market, why doesn’t Pepsi install vending machines on train cars.  Or better yet, how about Brawndo. After all, it is the thirst mutilator!   But, these are just my own semi-random reflections on the topic – what do you think? Got any favorite ads or creative concepts of your own?  Do tell!

No Pants, No Problem...err, sort of

What manhole did I fall into that I totally missed the memo on this one?  For that matter, where were all of YOU when this took place?  What a sight it would have been to behold first hand.  For those of you, like me, who were in the dark about this, let me clue you in.  A New York-based group named Improv Everywhere came into being in August 2001 with the sole purpose of creating and causing “scenes of chaos and joy in public places.”  These flash mobs and pseudo-flash mobs range in theme, from a hand bell choir spontaneously assisting a Salvation Army volunteer to a human mirror created on a subway train using pairs of identical twins dressed alike and sitting across from each other in the same car.  But what you may remember them most for is their Frozen Grand Central extravaganza (one I’ve enjoyed watching several times on YouTube).

Despite my marginal awareness of the group, what I completely missed the memo on was their now ten years and running No Pants Subway Ride experiment.  The movement has gone global yet I’ve been totally unawares until today and quite bummed (pun intended) that I missed the spectacle that took place in Chicago and some 50 other cities on January 9, 2011.



What makes the display all the more fascinating is that it takes place in the dead of winter!  A Chicagoan of some 12 odd years, I’m still not accustomed to winter weather.  In fact, I’m often rather cranky when the temps get below 60, let alone when they drop below 30.  So, for me, this whole concept of stripping down to ones skivvies in the middle of January inspires mad amounts of respect for those brave souls who took part, especially considering they’re doing it on public transit where you can never be certain what was just in the seat you’re now sitting in.  I’m definitely staying informed for next year’s event – though I probably won’t be participating (unless I come across some mighty warm, topnotch, alpaca wool, thigh-high leg warmers...)

What about you - Did you witness or participate in this year’s No Pants Subway Ride?  Would you consider it next year? What do you think of the whole idea?

Meet George Jetson!

Well, ok, it’s not exactly the future like in the Jetsons but that’s the first thing that popped into my head (including theme song and futuristic sound effects) when I read an article on msnbc.com about the Chicago Transit Authority rolling out some new test cars on the Red Line.  Supposedly the new rail cars boast a “smoother” ride (whatever that means) by way of an under car support system…I can’t erase the uproariously amusing image of monster truck shock absorbers underneath my seat or the thought of some Jetsons-like hovercraft engines suspending passengers midair while the train rattles down the tracks at 50mph from station to station.  Of all the trains I’ve ridden, the Red Line definitely takes the cake when it comes to a brutally bumpy ride – it’s not far from being at Six Flags on the Iron Wolf.  But I guess I have to just take their word for it until I experience the ride for myself.

Apparently some passengers who rode the new cars felt they were smaller and had less seating available than the current un-pimped-out cars.  To compensate though, upgrades like more poles and new handstraps for upright riders were worked into the new design.  I have to say though, that given the way I’ve seen people use handstraps on busses, I doubt they’d be very helpful on the train. They may end up even being dangerous.  I still have to giggle at people who don’t anchor themselves while gripping handstraps and then end up dangling from them, holding on for dear life, and to whatever dignity they had left…LOL…

But back to the point, other spiffy features include networked security cameras (about time!) and nifty door sensors to detect obstructions (curious to see if this will come in handy when crazy people hold the doors open for a friend who’s running behind them to catch the train, even though they heard the ding-dong indicating doors were closing and the conductor announced the train’s about to pull away).

I visited every car on my train today and didn’t observe any of the newbies, but I'll certainly be paying more attention to see if CTA can match the 'Smooth Operator' quality of the D.C. metrorail - now you could rock a baby to sleep on those trains.

Interesting side note: these new cars were first tested on the Yellow and Purple lines, both of which are patronized by more white passengers than Black or Latino ones.  Not sure what the logic is there but I’m in the mood to give CTA the benefit of the doubt that they chose those lines first because the overall ridership is a lot lower than most of the other lines, and therefore not as much of an inconvenience if it turned out to be bad design…..

Broadcasting Live from the Red Line!

I often feel left behind in this era of technology.  Hoards of fellow train riders carrying on like peacocks, displaying their colorful and nifty gizmos and gadgets; at times it can feel quite lonely to have nothing but a cell phone.  It made me wonder a bit, about how social interactions would change say, if more media outlets were embedded into the actual train.  Phone and internet service providers have already breached the subterranean barrier, enabling consumers to use their phones and laptops in the subway without interruption of service. And advertisers are ever clever in finding ways to follow you underground and all around on trains and busses.  But what about other media outlets?  A lot of times, I turn my television on to watch the morning news and get caught up in the latest breaking story just as I’m heading out the door to catch my train.  I admit I get a little vexed having to turn it off mid-story lest I risk missing my ride. So, what if we could pick up our news story on the train?  What about installing news feed tickers to keep us abreast of all things Chicago!

                          

Or, it’d be pretty spectacular to have a 40 inch HD flat screen embedded [to prevent vandalism] into the wall of a train car, streaming live local news, weather and sports broadcasts.  At first I thought it might be fun to have conductors themselves double as newscasters but, given the horrid quality of the trains PA system, that would likely drive folks to madness trying to decipher everything. But even something akin to the Channel One broadcasts shown in high school homerooms around the country could be fairly interesting.

Another idea could be to turn the head car into a soundproof broadcasting studio and have live radio hosts or news anchors do their morning rush hour routines from there while at night, after rush hour, local DJs could inhabit the booth and pump the latest jams into each car, taking requests from passengers via a special Twitter App for Chicago L train riders...I guess though that’s the whole reason peeps have smartphones, laptops, & iPods, so they can have access to more than just local news, and can be their own DJs.  But something about incorporating mass media into the mass transit experience still seems novel – especially to tech-tarded old fogies like me.

Though, if they’ve got TVs on trains in parts of Asia and in NYC, I guess I’ll be writing a letter to Da Next Mayor. Who wants to sign my petition!