June 29th, 2011 Last Full Day of 7-Day Transit Pass

6/29 EB #67 bus at Normal. Traffic is stopped at a red light on 69th & Normal. I am standing up over my backpack that I placed in one of the aisle-facing seats that also face the rear door. I look out the window and in the next lane, I spot a woman who looked to be in her 20s, driving a white four-door Chevy while eating what looked to be vanilla ice cream made by a dairy company called Lalo. When the light turned green, the first thought that came out of my mind was,

"Am I finally gonna see actual knee-driving here?"

Fortunately, she didn't drive with her knees, but drove with one hand on the wheel while using the other to hold the container of ice cream. Last time I checked, you must have both hands on the wheel while driving.
This incident reminds me of a day in July 2002 when I watched for bad drivers while my mother and I spent about a couple hours doing laundry at a laundromat on Chicago's West Side. That day, within such a short period of time, I caught a motorist singing with her eyes closed, another motorist slowly taking spoonfuls of Yoplait yogurt into her mouth, another motorist reading a novel and not paying any attention to the road ahead of him, and another motorist screaming her head off at someone that she was talking to over a cell phone. All incidents occurred on the NB side of Kedzie, and all incidents occurred while these silly bastards were operating their freaking cars! Okay, I have several words to use to end this blog piece:

Oh thank God for public transit! I can leave the driving to someone else for a change!

LATER
IB/NB Red Line train. I board at 69th Street, getting into the seventh car out of eight, and spot a very handsome man in a seat on the opposite side of the aisle. He appeared to be around my age, and, he was eating hamburgers and fries!

"Do you know that you're not suppose to eat on the train?"

That's what I was thinking in my mind and that's what I wanted to say to him. What's worse is that he placed the packaging that the sandwich and fries came in inside a brown paper bag that the food came in onto the adjacent seat and then he placed an empty can of root beer soda onto the paper bag, and just left it there! I'm glad that the train didn't get crowded because it would've been said if someone wanted to sit in that seat, but couldn't because his little seatmates were in it.
Things get better because he puts on his big black sunglasses, looking extra sexy, picks up his trash, and then he and his little buddies exit the train at Harrison.

LATER ON
Jackson Blue Line stop. I am walking up the platform, looking for rail car markers 8 and 6 so I can board a Budd 2200 series car, on my way to Jefferson Park. As I am walking, a train is approaching. As I am walking, I notice a performer singing a self-made song with an instrumental version of "Independent Women" by Destiny's Child playing on a portable speaker that he has. That's not all because he holds a medium-sized stuffed tiger while performing! I couldn't help but smile and silently laugh! Performing on a subway platform while holding and swinging around a plush animal? What in the world is going on here? I'm going on 25 years of age and I've never seen anything like this before in my life! LOL XD

AND LATER ON
IB Blue Line train. I board at Jefferson Park, getting in Budd car #2231. The AC is down in this car. It's as hot in this car as it is outside! I see a tall, slim black teen male wearing a black durag towards the rear of the car. He looks very suspicious, constantly standing in the doorway and then walking back to his seat, over and over again he does this aggravating mess! He also takes his backpack and places it in the door at the end of the car, obviously to let in some air. When the train stops and opens its doors at a station, he peeks his head out!
As the train approaches Division/Milwaukee, he places a card which says "33 Issues FREE", possibly from a magazine, in the space above the left doors, on the Blue Line map. I'm thinking,

"This bastard has lost his damn mind. If he's not off this train at Jackson, I'm surely going to report him to the conductor."

Fortunately for the silly punk, he exited the train at Monroe, the stop preceeding Jackson. As he exited at Monroe, I stuck up my middle finger at him.

MY SUPPORT OF THE BUDDS

The best rail cars that I remember from my earliest memories of trainriding, are the Budd Co. built 2200-series cars that are normally spotted on the Blue Line. If you don't know what they are by now, they are the cars with the blinker doors that open inward and have ridges on their sides. Unfortunately, the CTA wants to get rid of them and replace them with the 5000 series cars, which I really like very much, but don't like the fact that they're replacing the Budds (what I like to call the 2200-series cars). Because of this nightmare, I have made a pact with myself, that, every time I get a transit pass, whether it be a 1-day pass or a 30-day pass, and whenever I get on the Blue Line, I must make sure that I board a Budd and take it to my destination. I will not be here in Chicago much longer, three years from now, and I am gone, but before I leave, the Budds, something I grew up knowing, will leave, forever.

To all those who like these unique rail cars, I suggest that you all do the same, every single one of you. It does not matter if you reside in Northeastern Illinois or not. If you like the Budds, support them in any way that you possibly can.

June 28th, 2011-Exposing The Budds

6/28 OB Blue Line train. I boarded at Clark/Lake, getting in, intentionally, Budd Co. car #2253 in my continued support of Budds, what I like to call them collectively. My support will probably pay off big time thanks to this little blog entry.

As soon as I boarded, I spotted a large stroller accompanied by two women, with a baby in it of course. They exited at California.
At Division/Milwaukee, a couple heading to O'Hare boarded with three medium-sized luggage cases and one big one, getting everything on board without any hassles and putting everything towards the front of the car.

Ha! Screw you fucks for saying that the 2200 series cars aren't suitable for those carrying strollers and luggage, and screw ALL of you fucks who support the idea of getting rid of them! Hahahahahahaha!

June 27th, 2011-Uh, Come Again?

6/27 OB Orange Line train to Midway: Okay, before we start, is it just me, or is the Orange Line getting bad all of a sudden? Oh no!
Hispanic man, perhaps very mentally-challenged, boards at Halsted, and holds out a handful of white flyers with black words typed on them. Instead of handing them out to people on board, he goes up to them, opens his mouth, and the only thing heard is,

"Mah! Mah! Mah mah mah mah mah!"

I am not spared, because he sits in the double aisle-facing seat across from the lone aisle-facing seat I'm sitting in, and shows the flyers to me saying,

"Mah mah mah mah mah mah mah mah!"

I softly shake my head and smile as I say to him,

"Sorry sweetie, I cannot help you. I'm very sorry."

He then sits still in the seat with his mouth wide open like he's in shock, and then approximately a minute later, he moves to the other end of the car and gets completely ignored by the two riders over there.

June 26th, 2011-Skateboarding and Gays

6/26 Western Stop on the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line: While waiting for EB Blue Line train to get to Jackson, a black teen male skateboards around the station, on both sides, occasionally looking over at me, grinning and laughing at me as he did so. I softly say, whe he disappears as a WB train approaches,

"You're lucky that this platform's not slippery and a train's not coming at full speed."

LATER:
Jackson Blue Line stop: The station is flooded, inundated I should say, with gays and lesbians coming from the Gay Pride Parade. Because I don't want to be around them, I wait for two WB trains to pass before boarding a third Blue Line train, catching teen boys and young adult men groping and kissing one another in prohibited places throughout my wait. A group of loud-talking black women get on, one is about to sit next to me but changes her mind, permitting a woman who takes up nearly 1.5 seats to sit next to me. She sits on my leg, and when she realizes what she has done, she pats and rubs my leg while saying to me, in a halfway masculine voice,

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry baby."

I didn't like the way she said that to me or touched me, so, out of suspected lesbianism, I fly off the train and wait for the next one. I sit on a bench as the train sits there with its doors open, and I hear the woman mournfully say,

"But I told her that I was sorry!"

June 25th, 2011-Orange Line Improv?

6/25 IB Orange Line train from Ashland to Library-State/Van Buren: Bald, black man who looked to be in his late 30s or early 40s talks extremely loud to an unknown person. He actually holds conversations with this unknown person about some people on a cable TV series saying such things as

"She is hot! Don't you think she's hot? She is fine!"

When the train approaches Roosevelt, I come to find out that the man is holding conversations with himself! It gets worse.
As the train is approaching Library-State/Van Buren, he loudly shouts,

"I want FAITHHHH!!!"

Not once does he do this, but three times, before exiting the train at Library-State/Van Buren, and going about his fucking psychotic business.

June 23rd, 2011-Rollerskating

6/23 I'm on a WB Blue Line train, and the train stops at the Illinois Medical District station. Conductor shouts, at unseen person or persons,

"Please do not skate on the sidewalk! Please do not rollerskate on the platform!"

Her shouts are heard over the intercom. Everyone on the train hears it. My thoughts were, "Sweeeet."

Welcome Post

LOL.

This is probably my wildest online blog yet,(on Blogger that is), and it completely surrounds the chaotic and just plain ol' odd things I've seen while riding public transit here in the Chicago metropolitan area. I am a strong advocate of mass transit and an avid rider of all systems. I love it! Great for those who don't have cars, great for those who don't want to use cars, great for those who prefer to save money to get from Point A to Point B, and, great for those who want to see something crazy or odd every now and then.
I hope that you will enjoy it.