Yesterday, a few members of my group (Cody, Nick, and Omar) and I headed out on a trip to explore the Canada Line and its many mysteries. We’ll be discussing our ideas with Judy soon, since she’s also doing an exploration. These are the ideas and feelings I gathered in our trip. 

1. A transit security officer got on the train we were in. He asked us for our passes. Luckily, we all had ours on! This was the first time I’ve been asked for my pass on a train. Before the officer got on, the atmosphere in the train was just like usual: kind of awkward, silent, but peaceful. The moment this tall, athletic man carrying a gun walked in, this peaceful atmosphere broke. He wasn’t just an officer, or a security guard. He was a guy carrying a gun. A gun that, if you were sitting, was just there in front of your face. I found this quite disturbing. 

The guy sitting next to us didn’t have his pass on and tried to be smart about it! Not a good decision, he got kicked out of the train.

2. We all could feel the pressure change when coming out of/going into the tunnel. That tingling feeling in my ears, and the reflection of the sunlight (it was actually kind of sunny and nice outside) on the water made me think of underwater life and scenes. The way fish travel across the ocean in currents is very similar to the way people in the Greater Vancouver area commute to work. I need to do some research on this concept.

3. Public transit culture is so broad and intriguing. Why is it okay to completely invade someone else’s personal space, but it’s wrong to make eye contact? Why is it okay for a bunch of strangers to press their bodies against mine, but if I say something like “hello”, or “nice handbag”, I’m a complete creep? I guess we just want to think of everyone else as an object, and the moment we acknowledge they’re living, thinking creatures, pressing our bodies against them gets really weird.