I’ve always preferred public transit over driving myself.
I always thought that it was because I simply disliked driving.
I know that I also can read or play games while sitting in a public transit, and I thought these two were the main reasons why I prefer public transit over driving.
But then I discovered that there is something more.
What I enjoyed was the crowd that read.
When I am in subways, I find myself in the middle of so many people reading, and that is extremely comforting. That’s an experience difficult to find in a bus because there is simply more room to stand, especially here in SF.
But in Bart, there are so many readers and I find the environment very much comforting.
I found this the same in Seoul recently. With all the DMBs and smartphones, there are fewer readers in subways in Seoul, and I found it distracting. I didn’t find the subway ride as comforting as I used to. Everyone had the DMB antenna sticking out of their mobile phones, to watch whatever TV shows were on air.
I respect the readers and I prefer being in some reading environment.
This reminds me that I should visit local library to get my library card soon.
