There are only two things worse than taking a train during rush hour. The first is taking a train during rush hour in the summer. You are innocently standing on the platform, waiting patiently. The train pulls up. The doors open. This releases a toxic cloud of B.O. strong enough to make the weak and unsuspecting faint. And that is before you get in the train. The second, and far less severe, is taking a rush hour train on a rainy morning. The rain dampens an already dire mood. The humidity from the humans and moisture on them fogs the windows and you expect rain to start falling from the ceiling at any moment.
I try to avoid the morning trains. But yesterday I had a meeting and had to take three trains during the morning rush hour…from 7-10. And it was raining. The first ride wasn’t bad. I accompanied my daughter and her friend to school on a 7:00 train. It was a typical 7 am crowd. We waited in our queue of about 12 people to get on when the doors opened. Both girls would find seats together before they reached school. The girls are very polite about this; they always look around before they sit down to make sure there isn’t an older person or a mom with a child. I lost count long ago of the number of times they have offered and given their seats to such folks.
My second ride started an hour later. I was getting on at a very slow station. I was able to easily step on to the train with two other people. The train was full, crowded even, but we were able to step on and stand without having to touch anyone. This comfortable situation lasted all for three minutes. That was how long it took us to get to Takadanobaba station. (Takadanobaba has the unique distinction of being the funniest and most fun station name to say.) Takadanobaba is by no means a large station. And it doesn’t even come close to the major stations like Shibuya, Shinagawa, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Ueno or Ikebukuro. It is a fairly typical station. As the train stopped and the door opened, we saw the queue of 30 people. Three people got off; 30 pushed in. The first 25 or so simply march in. It’s like being over taken by a phalanx. You can not resist. You take a deep breath; you draw in your spatial bubble and you become one with the mass. You do not move. You not reach up to hold the handles. It is impossible to fall.
Once the 25 get on, the real entertainment starts. The next five or so do not wait for the next train. They pull a maneuver I like to call the reverse rollercoaster. They step up to the door of the train, turnaround, and raise their hands…as if they were on a rollercoaster and going to go down the first drop. They reach in and grab the top of the inside of the door and use that as leverage to back themselves into the train. After 5 to 10 people do this the train is officially packed. But the fun isn’t over yet.
Next come the pirouetting linebackers. These are the crazy people that ignore the signs on the doors that say don’t rush to get on when the doors are closing. These are the crazy people who ignore the white gloved station attendants barking over bullhorns and into mics that the doors will soon be closing and to please stand back. These folks take three or four quick steps toward the door, much like a linebacker shooting a gap in an offensive line rushing the quarterback. At the last second they throw their arms up into the air and do a half turn, like a ballerina. They too, in this deft move, grab the upper inside of the door and with their momentum push themselves into the train.
The doors finally close with the white-gloved station attendants shoving anyone who is stuck in the door or pushing any bags, suitcases or umbrellas that didn’t make the first door closure.
Please keep in mind that the typical train during rush hour has 10 – 11 cars. And each car has at least 3- 4 doors. And the scenario I describe is happening at each of those doors. Additionally, during rush hour you have a train pulling into each station every 1-3 minutes. Ten cars, three doors per car, every couple of minutes for three hours six days a week.
And that is how me and twelve and a half million of my closest friends use public transportation every morning to get to work.
While being mashed and squeezed yesterday morning I did look up at one point to catch a new commercial on the video screen above the door that displays train information, the weather and commercials. It seemed oddly appropriate: Be Juicy!
Be Juicy! is a new juice bar chain. If you visit their site you can click on the Tokyo Be Juicy! bubble: then use the next button to get to this image:
On the site you can click the play button to watch a shorter version of the commercial I watched. I am sure you will be more comfortable watching it at your computer than I was yesterday. If you choose to watch it after getting a shower and before drying off and if you choose to put clamps and vices all of over your body to increase your level of discomfort it may help you simulate yesterday’s rush hour. Just trying to help you make this internet experience as real as possible.
One more note, if you go to the site and click on the “Everybody Be Juicy!” bubble, it will load a program where you can use fruit to make pictures of animals or funny faces.