The hunt

Jax and I are apartment hunting. Our lease isn't up until January 31st, but we need to get out of our apartment because they are raising our rent a ridiculous amount of money. The funny thing is, we keep looking for places near the T, and all I want to do is take the Commuter Rail into South Station or the Back Bay. Here's the thing:

Pros of using the Commuter Rail
*It takes a lot less time to get into and out of Boston
*Heavily populated areas such as South Station means that there are places for me to eat and drink while I wait for the scheduled train

Cons of using the Commuter Rail
*I have to buy a Commuter Rail pass which is substantially higher than the amount that I pay for my subway pass ($0).
*A set schedule of trains

Pros of using the MBTA
*I sort of have a shady deal that allows me to travel on the subway, while no money comes out of my pocket.
*There are many T stops, so we can look at a variety of different areas around the South Shore areas

Cons of using the MBTA
*I don't always get a seat
*$5 a day parking at the train station

and the real reason that I am writing this post:

When I either go to work, or am coming back from work, I will sometimes get a seat. There are close to 50 seats on each Red Line subway car. The areas that I travel through are highly populated by those of Asian descent. The summation of this con is:

*Asian women, normally 2 women or more, will flock to me even if there are multiple seats elsewhere, and carry on a loud conversation in their native language, when the entire time all I want to do is rest my eyes.

Here's what happened last night. I was at Park Street, and I got myself a seat one over from the end seat, which is my preferred seat of the subway. The person sitting in the rock star seat had a suitcase, which normally means that in 2 stops, they are getting off at South Station. He did. Normally, I would scoot my touchas over to the optimal seat, while opening the seat I was just in for other patrons. Of course, if an elderly person needed a seat, I would get up, like I always do.

I was about to scoot over when I noticed a lot of people rushing in, so I said screw it. A little Asian man, who was eating something, and has schmegma coming out of his nose, and extra schmegma chillin' on his upper lip, happens to sit down next to me. Oi, here we go. So, throughout the stops, he eats, drinks his water and basically makes a mess of himself. I tried to ignore the majority of it and get some shut eye, but every 10 to 20 seconds he would clear his throat. I almost got up just to walk to the other end of the train.

Rewind to a couple weeks ago. I grabbed an optimal seat and the woman next to me becomes that person that you despise most on airline flights: The one that won't leave you alone. She was this older, ugly white chick that kept asking questions. I tried to be dodgy so I could once again get some shut eye for the ride home, but to no avail. The moment we got out of the tunnel, she got on the phone with someone (a pet peeve of mine....you don't have full fledged conversations on the train). She continued with her conversation and I couldn't tune her out. So, with my stop the coming up shortly, I got up, got off at a stop, walked down the train and got onto the next car. It was a Friday, and she was making my ears bleed.

Fast forward to this morning. I get onto the train and I wasn't able to land my seat. No worries. I don't mind sitting next to other people. I look at the other seats, and they are all filled, except for a couple single seats, including the one directly to my left. We arrive at the next stop, and two older Asian women step aboard. One woman sits right next to me and the rest is history. The conversation that ensued lasted about 30 minutes.

I tip my hat off to those that can tune out conversations, but when they are loud, and are sitting right next to me, I can't ignore it. It doesn't matter what the language is...if people are talking loudly when I am trying to relax, I can't seem to drown it out with my own thoughts. I just wish driving and parking in Boston wasn't such a chore, otherwise I'd be one of those drones that makes the ugly commute.

Aight, the day is almost done, and I'm going to make a break for a seat. Of course, we all know what will happen. And the answer is not to buy an i-pod. 1)My ipod shat the bed 2)people aren't as aware of their surroundings and are easy marks for thieves.

I think the answer is to fart loudly, or put on little to no deodorant, wear trash bags covered with Vaseline, and run in place to get the stench really potent. Then maybe people will give me some piece and quiet.