metro

Do you have that one thing which everytime you have to do it, panic rises in your chest? If you are one of the few lucky ones, you can avoid that experience as much as possible. I have found that experience that I would rather not have ever again.

The metro/subway is and invention of mechanical genius. Everything is underground in the city. You stand on the escalator which descends inexorably into a hole in the ground. Look back at the cement ceiling rising above you. I wonder at the feat of engineering it must have taken to build these structures underneath old buildings. Small ports open to the upper world. Otherwise, everything happens underground. They have helpful machines full of information for lost 1st-timers. Signs point your way constantly in case you get mixed up, which you will. Escalators take you from one level of the station to another. Walls round out to form a ceiling 50 feet above the platform. The trains sweep through, open doors, close, and keep going. Signs along the platform tell the people in the train what station they have arrived at before it is too late to exit the train.

Even the cars of the train have maps in case you are confused. Its incredibly user friendly. And yet, after all is said and done, it’s a giant mechanical worm which sucks you in thru its gills and takes you to your destination. Thankyou industrial revolution or whichever revolution gave us this contraption.