The Train Story

Have you ever been on a train? Airplane? Bus? Or any mode of public transportation? Well, as crowded as that experience might have been, the trains in Tokyo are 10 times worse. Especially during rush hour. Imagine you trying to go to your work and your car just got towed yesterday because you left it at the beach and didn't pay the parking toll. You don't have enough money to get it back right now. But after a day's work, you will be able to get it back. So, instead, you need to ride the morning train. You walk to the station and see that there is a line extending outside the doors. You wait reluctantly for at least an hour. You finally get inside the station and you hear the announcer say that everyone needs to get to the track. You start moving towards the door. Or at least trying to. You are getting pushed and shoved by a bunch if people in a rush to get to work. You wonder if this is really worth all the trouble. The answer to your question is I don't know. It is way too crowded in one small space. WHY ISN'T IT BIGGER! These are the thoughts running through your head when you start very slowly and cautiously walking the the double doors made of glass. You hear the train whistle getting louder every few seconds. Then the floor starts to rumble and you know the train is coming. You start to look around and people don't even seem to care. Like almost getting pushed onto the track is normal. Just then, the train comes stalking down the track. When the train stops, you can clearly hear all of the yelling, talking and movement inside even when the doors are closed. You stand on your tiptoes to try and get a good look at the train. You still can't see the train, so being the curious person that you are, you find a ledge and decide to stand on it to get a better look, muttering apologies as you move towards it. Once you get there, you stand on it, you can't believe what you see. You look through the tinted window and saw what seems like millions of people. Finally, about a dozen men come out of a car wearing navy blue uniforms and matching hats. They move towards the doors, about two guards at each door. The pry the doors open at the same time, and there is an explosion of noise going through the station. People rushing out all over the place and you have to fight to stay on your ledge. People flood out like a tidal wave. You were surprised that the guards weren't knocked off of the boarding station and onto the track. You surely would have. Once all of the other passengers had filed out, it was your turn to go in. People started moving towards the train and you got pushed off of your ledge. Luckily, you caught your balance and got onto the concrete. You were in the middle of the pack, so you kept getting your new shoes stepped on. You bit back sassy remarks to the people who were stepping on your shoes. Mostly because you were stepping on other people's shoes as well. You managed to look ahead, and those same guards in the same uniforms were pushing people on the train. Wow, how rude you though. But then it dawned on you why the guards were pushing people into the train. They were trying to fit them all in. Soon, you felt the guards pushing you into the train too. Your fingers almost got stuck!!! When you were finally settled on the train, you could only think about how you never wanted to do this again. And you never had to because you got your car back. Just remember not to leave your car not payed for at the beach. :)