Stuck in the world, free in the head
I’m outside, with nostril hair stiff from cold, I try to stand in the center of my pants, the fabric is too painful to touch. It’s 17:00 and the sun has already set. I’m looking down the road, two shafts of light beam through the snowy air, my gaze stays fixed until I see that it’s just another car. Hundreds of cars later, my bus arrives.
That’s what it was like for me commuting to school when I was a teen.
So much of that is dead time. During 3 years I spent about 3 hours per day commuting to school, first a short bit by bus and then a long bit by train. I could add countless more hours of commuting time per day with the waiting time, it’s unmeasurable. I tried to make the most of it by drawing, reading, doing homework or talking to friends. I love doing all those things. BUT.
I wanted to get home, sit in a comfortable couch, be with my family, play Minecraft or draw. It felt like my life was all about waiting for vehicles, on vehicles, going back and forth in vehicles, every day. I spent more of my conscious time in public transport seats than in my own room. I got familiar with other commuters faces’ and felt like I knew them despite never talking to them. I knew where they got on and off, where they worked.
Sometimes I imagined how much I could have gotten to know them if I had only reached out. Even though I like the idea of being someone who could strike up conversations with strangers, there wasn’t an ounce in me that could muster the will or courage to actually do it.
I blame it partially on the way the bus stops and train cars are designed. It’s just flat ground, a little hut, or some seats. There’s NOTHING to do there except for staring in the direction of the arriving vehicle.
Billions of hours are being wasted this way by billions of people every day.
Imagine if there was some kind of game you could play there, by yourself, with your feet, so you can keep your hands in your pockets. If somebody else shows up, the game is designed in a way that lets them join in or drop out at any time too. It would kickstart a lot of conversations. If you don’t feel chatty, both of you could keep your headphones on, keep listening to your music, while you play together in solitude. It would be known as “the game that all of humanity plays together at bus stops.”
That’s what you do while you wait for the vehicle to appear.
The inside of the train is just as fun as a solitary confinement cell, except other people are also there, silently going mad. The only thing the train company has offered as help is reading, in the form of ads plastered on the walls. There’s the view of course, unless it’s pitch black outside (Swedish winter).
What if every train car was made by someone who loved to design train cars?
There’s a lot of possibilities within a train car, they could be…
A place full of music instruments, integrated with the interior, there could be some instruments to borrow, or bring your own, just jam with strangers,
A scene where people can give talks, perform or read their poetry,
Uneven or strangely shaped rooms so you can find a nice nook to hide in,
A grassy meadow wagon where you can take strolls,
One for people who likes to read,
A gym with heavy weights,
A cinema,
Default train car.
I’m not saying that I want everything to be fun all the time, I just wish something could happen during those dull times on the train. Even something as mundane as lifting weights would be fine. I could have been a bodybuilder by now!
Nobody becomes a train car designer because it’s their passion. They can only try to make it as pretty and comfy as possible within their budget. Instead of seeing it as work, I wish people would be able to bring their imagination and passion to everything that surrounds us.
You would have to be a mayor or the owner of a train company to be able to do anything about these issues… If you have that kinda power you probably care more about other things.
Maybe because of these experiences I live a life mostly without travel.
But I’m an artist, game designer and writer. When people’s bodies are stuck somewhere in meat-space, at least I can help them go somewhere with their mind. So in a sense, I’m still there.
