Today I spent time on the local transit system thinking about class structure. Though I am admittedly, without a job and a working vehicle, I am blatantly middle class. My clothes, my style of carrying myself, of speaking, the ipod often in my ears, all give me away as a member of the middle class in our society. Though you can never really judge a person by their looks, I think I am fairly safe in saying most of the people who ride the bus, especially during the day when many are at work at 8-5 jobs, are lower class. They are the mentally and physically handicapped, the homeless, and the downright poor. I have already been invited to move in to a man's house rent free and invited to lunch by another man. Needless to say, I did not take up either one of these offers, you wouldn't have either, but it does make one aware of social structure. It also makes one very aware of boundaries, or the lack of boundaries, of plumbers who want to talk to you when you are trying to listen to your ipod. You also have the older generations riding the bus, they are actually the nicest ones. They smile politely at you, maybe make a remark or two and then they slip into thoughts of their own while you slip into yours. It's my crash course in street smarts and learning to be a bit rude to fend off the men who see a pretty young woman and want to take her home. I have also become very aware of the difficulties many people have with the bus system. For example, with my car, it would have taken me an hour and a half to get around to where I needed to go today. Instead, with the bus, it took me over five. I miss my working car. I really, really miss my working car.
365-09 #16Labels: 365-09 Challenge