TechNews | Tuesday, October 1,2013

 

Lessons to learn on Chicago's ‘L' trains

Austin Gonzalez 8: Kyle Stanevich
STAFF WRITERS

The elevated train system (the “L”) in
Chicago is like the beating heart of the city, with
its veins stretching out to the furthest suburbs.
Without it, Chicago would crumble to its knees,
leaving empty tracks where blood used to flow,
and a sluggish bus system holding together
whatever is left. This system has become one of
the best parts of my IIT experience.

4 Even as a freshman, I have rode these

trains to nearly every stop. I’ve traveled as far
south as 95th and taken the long trip up to
Evanston, plus everywhere else in between. It
gives me a time to relax, finish some work, and
even write a few articles for the newspaper. It
has been my companion as I travel all over the
Chicagoland area in search of items people are
giving away for free on craigslist, from TVs to
an old oversized leather briefcase. Along with all
that, it is how all of my adventures in Chicago
begin: “one day I hoped onto the ‘L.’ ”

Some of the best things on the “L”
are the people. If one pays attention, they will
see, hear, and smell people from all different
backgrounds and from very different walks
of life. The experiences of the train are there,
waiting to be soaked up like a dehydrated person
soaks up water after surviving in the desert for a
week. These are the stories of a few memorable
train rides. ‘

While sitting on the “L” coming back
from some late night expedition, a man slipped
out to the gap between cars while the train
was running through the loop. A roll of toilet
paper was in his hands, and betweenmumbles
of the word “shit”, Iassumed that he had just
done his business on the moving train. His

 

bright yellow flat-brimmed hat
and baggy pants gave off an aura
of up to no good. Yet, he clearly
had enough money to spend on
simple luxuries like the newest
iPhone and not one, but two
pairs of Ray Bans sitting on his
hat. His gallery of tattoos told
a story of recently lost relatives
and “Mi Vida Loca,” probably
compounded difficulties in his
life. But is anyone’s life really
hard enough to do a. number
two between the cars of a moving
train? Maybe not.

Another favorite is
the story of the wise old. man. ,
My friend and I and about six
random others were sitting on the
train when this elderly gentleman
across from us suddenly gets up
and announces he’s sat in the
wrong seat. Not knowing what
to make of this, we all just stared
at him silently. He eXplains while
moving to the other part of the
car that sometimes when you get
to be his age you forget things
and sit in the wrong seat. He
keeps talking to us as if we were
imploring him to tell us more,
which we might have if he ever took a break to
breathe.’He went on about his life and being a
pastor. He said once there was a young man who
came to him distressed.

The man said, “Pastor, I am sad. I
have been thinking about the future and don’t
know what I’ll do when I’m fifty.” The old man
says simply “Son, if god blesses you so that you
live to be fifty, he will have also granted you the
wisdom to know what to do.” He eventually got

off in the middle of one of his anecdotes but it
made the hour and a half long trip to Evanston
feel much shorter.

Between the motivational pastor and
odd young fellow, there are always some weird
snippets of conversation that can be heard. One
couple just kept babbling on about convincing
one of their friends to smoke with them and
get high off Nyquil, not the best of ideas. Some
people run into long lost friends, and their lives

 

Image courtesy ofstevencanplan.com

could not be more different.

Even a lawyer and man living out of
his mother’s basement can have meaningful
conversations. Sometimes people are nice,
helping you transport heavyr objects off the
train. Sometimes they are not as courteous,
like a woman who held up the train by blocking
the door and yelling to people standing on the
platform. No matter what, riding the train is
alwaysan adventure.