People may wonder why I talk about the train so much.
I spend 40 minutes a day on the train so I do talk about it a little.
One thing that stresses me out is when people sleep on the train.
I am not talking about snoozing. I am talking about full on drooling, snoring, head nodding slumber.
Of course, I have been known to snooze on the train from time to time.
I just make sure I don't get too comfortable.
I can never forget I am in close quarters with a bunch of strangers.
Who knows? Someone could steal my bag or worse yet, draw a mustache on me or something.
So, there is the personal safety issue.
But that is not my biggest concern.
You can blame my real source of stress on the Kingston Trio.
When I was a kid my parents used to listen to their greatest hits on a regular basis.
One of the songs was about a guy who could not get off the train.
Some of the lyrics went something like "no, he never returned. No, he never returned and his fate is still unlearned. He will ride forever through the streets of London. He is the man who never returned".
Horrifying.
Now to be fair, in this case the man was not sleeping. He could not pay his fare to get off the train.
I often wondered why he didn't just jump out the window when the train stopped at a station or something.
Hey, I was a kid. I didn't know you don't usually pay your fare when you get off the train.
Now perhaps you can see why I am afraid sleeping passengers are going to end up like this guy.
I know no one is going to spend their life on the train but they could sleep through a couple of stops.
Then they might miss an appointment, or be late for work, or have some other issue which could cause a serious amount of inconvenience. It stresses me out.
I once sat across from a woman who was so out of it I wondered if she was in a coma. I started to tense out when we got close to downtown and she wasn't waking up. There is pretty much no one on the train after the City Center stop.
I wasn't sure what train etiquette was.
Should I wake her? Would she be irritated or grateful?
Maybe she was having some sort of medical emergency.
In the end, I decided to mind my own business.
I was a little relieved when I was stepping off the train and I saw she was starting to stir.
I am a train veteran now so I don't stress quite as much as I used to.
I am better at recognizing it's a free country and my fellow passengers can sleep on the train if they like. Worrying about their stop is not my responsibility but I still have my limits.
I will wake a sleeper if someone tries to steal their bag.
But I probably won't bother them if someone tries to draw them a new mustache.
