BART Ride

• The aged grandfather nods gratefully at the young man with the Don Johnson shadow, his smile deepening the creases on his worn and chiseled Asian face. He falls into the vacated seat as the train picks up speed, pulling a writhing 4-year old onto his lap.
  
  
• An attractive youthful girl grins at herself in a compact mirror as she brushes blush on her raised cheeks, occasionally flashing seductive glances at her reflection and sweeping a bouncy orange curl from her face.
  
  
• A gay multi-racial couple engages in light-hearted conversation, leaning into each other and playfully brushing fingers across the other's arm as they share a laugh.
  
  
• A brawny Latin man with black cords running from his ears to a turquoise MP3 player tightens his grip on the ceiling rail as the train lurches, revealing a fierce tattoo of intertwined sea monsters resembling those on ancient maritime maps beneath his wide leather cuffed wristwatch.
  
  
• An elderly couple with snow white hair shuffle in tentatively and are immediately offered seats. The lady, looking snug in her wispy pink rabbit fur cardigan and wearing ruby red loafers reminiscent of Dorothy’s slippers, clutches her partner’s bent arm and joins him in staring, bewildered, at the train map across the aisle.
  
  
• We know we’ve arrived downtown when passengers adopt “I, Robot” behavior, where as each batch of commuters steps off the train, another group files into position at the door entrance, evenly-spaced and ready to disembark at the next stop.
  
  
• Ads plastered next to the doors and at the far ends of the train car read:
  
  • “Get Metro PCS for $35 per month, unlimited long distance and local wireless.”
    
  • “Flex Your Power: Saving energy. It’s a Way of Life”
    
  • “Burger King:: Now you can pay rent and eat. BK breakfast value menu, 10 items starting at $1 each.”
    
  • “Whose bag? If you see something unusual, say something. Trust your instincts. Report unattended items.”
    
  
  Signs of the times.