Friday, August 01, 2008

There is a woman I work with who commutes from Woodbridge, Virginia to Washington DC each and every morning. When there is no traffic, that is about a 25 minute drive, but during rush hour that can take an hour if not longer. In an effort to both save on gas, this woman doesn't drive, but rather she waits in a designated area for someone to pick her up, and then they all ride into DC together. This lady told me that sometimes there are four strangers in one car. After the initial "hello" and "where are you headed?" there is NO communication. Some folks read books, others listen to their ipods, some just go to sleep, but they are all saving gas and helping the environment. Whoopty damn doo.

While I commend their efforts, there is NO way that I am sharing a car with three strangers in silence. As much as I hate small talk, I would force everyone to get some kind of conversation about something jumping. You mean to tell me I am risking life and limb to transport your environment saving ass to work, and you can't at least humor on how hideous Ann Curry dresses on the Today Show, or about the Manny Ramirez trade..or how Kwame Kilpatrick is messing up in Detroit? Come on now.

And although I am not quite as environment conscious as say, this person, I do definitely care about preserving this beautiful nation of ours..just not in a crowded car with silence. So my solution would be to take the train. I can ride in silence for a reasonable fair. I can listen to my music, read the paper and sleep without having to worry about whether I am pissing off the conductor. And, if I'm lucky, I'll some sort of confrontation or run-in to write about once I arrive at work. What's messing with that?

By the way, if I didn't work at the Department of Justice, I would dazzle you all with a sexy string of expletives that would make George Carlin gasp and blush in his grave. But alas, I have to censor myself. Perhaps I'll start just saving it for the weekend. I can talk some jive though. Speaking of talking jive..I present to you a scene from the movie The Royal Tennenbaums:

4 comments:

Papier Girl said...

Royal Tenenbaums is fav of mine.

I guess there's such a thing as uncomfortable silence...and I'm shocked that they don't say ONE word to one another. Weird. Maybe there just sleepy though. I was once apart of a 4-person carpool, and 4 out of 5 days a week, I slept through the entire car ride in the back seat.

Anonymous said...

Those "slug riders" are an interesting bunch. For the longest time I had no idea why folks formed those huge lines on the curbs in front of D.C. office buildings every evening. cars roll up, signals and destination info are exchanged and folks hop in accordingly. it's fascinating to watch. saw a few local news reports on their car pool community a while back, and found that it was a lot more organized than it actually looks...they have messageboards where riders can post driver reviews.
that whole riding in silence rule does seem kinda odd, but in the end I suppose its for the best. cuts out on all the corny jokes, yap about TPS reports, and other awkward discussions that could spark up during the commute.

Anonymous said...

i want to start slugging just to get more fodder for writing.

. said...

i as well commute from woodbridge, va to dc for work, but i'll be damned if i slugg. but if i was to ever slug i agree with you i will not be sitting in anyone's car full of complete strangers in complete silence. *smh*

i need to get a feel for the people that i am riding with.

i personally like taking the train to work everyday. despite the delays and the gross over-pricing, there is something quite dope about riding the train every morning.

never seen the royal tenenbaums, but after seeing that clip, i think i will have to. i didn't know danny glover was in it. learn a new thing everyday.