I have been in Taiwan for a little over four years now. In that time many things which were a mystery to me at the beginning now make sense; maybe not perfect sense, but some sense anyways. I no longer salivate with dreams of ice cream when the garbage truck comes by. I can appreciate, if not fully understand, the chaos involved in in a transportation system where scooters rule the road. Hell, I can even enjoy stinky tofu.
At least one mystery remains though. I really don't understand the morning commute habits of many who ride the Green Line MRT. I live very close to the Xindian MRT station, which is the terminal station of that line. What this means, is that once the train reaches this station, it heads back in exactly the same direction from which it came. The station the train just came from (Xindian City Hall Station) is also the next stop after Xindian. Logic would suggest to me that this being the case, the train should empty out at Xindian. Logic fails me here though, as this is not the case at all. A good 70% of the people on the train, maybe 25 per car, remain on board, wait for the six minute stop time and head back to exactly where they came from. I just don’t get it.
Now, I am sure you are thinking, “What is his problem? What difference could it possibly make to him how someone uses the train?” Of course, you would be right. Then again, you would be wrong. It affects me in that because so many are remaining seated, I have difficulty getting a seat I like. This means a seat facing forward, next to the window. Many others seem to like these too and those who stay on board are either already in those seats, or they shift to them before I am able. Now, since I ride for 13 stops and approximately half an hour, good seating has a real value to me. Why these people are taking it away from me is bothersome to someone as petty as I.
Maybe I should be able to easily move on past this, but I can't. As mentioned above; I am petty at times. This is one of those times.
All I want is a good seat for my journey....Is that too much to ask? Get the hell out of my seat people!!
At least one mystery remains though. I really don't understand the morning commute habits of many who ride the Green Line MRT. I live very close to the Xindian MRT station, which is the terminal station of that line. What this means, is that once the train reaches this station, it heads back in exactly the same direction from which it came. The station the train just came from (Xindian City Hall Station) is also the next stop after Xindian. Logic would suggest to me that this being the case, the train should empty out at Xindian. Logic fails me here though, as this is not the case at all. A good 70% of the people on the train, maybe 25 per car, remain on board, wait for the six minute stop time and head back to exactly where they came from. I just don’t get it.
Now, I am sure you are thinking, “What is his problem? What difference could it possibly make to him how someone uses the train?” Of course, you would be right. Then again, you would be wrong. It affects me in that because so many are remaining seated, I have difficulty getting a seat I like. This means a seat facing forward, next to the window. Many others seem to like these too and those who stay on board are either already in those seats, or they shift to them before I am able. Now, since I ride for 13 stops and approximately half an hour, good seating has a real value to me. Why these people are taking it away from me is bothersome to someone as petty as I.
Maybe I should be able to easily move on past this, but I can't. As mentioned above; I am petty at times. This is one of those times.
All I want is a good seat for my journey....Is that too much to ask? Get the hell out of my seat people!!
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