Wednesday, April 30, 2008

question of the week

Here is a strange place.

Yesterday as I was walking down to the Strassenbahn stop, I saw one come around the corner, and started to run for it. Then realized I didn't want to run for it.

I saw a woman, mid-thirties, dressed for work, in heels, barreling up the street as fast as she could, to catch another train. This has always struck me as funny. Vienna has an excellent public transportation system. Miss a train, there'll be another one in three minutes. Yet you see otherwise dignified citizens sprinting, galloping and hooking-ass down the street or stairs to catch the 8:13 38a or the U4 or the U6. Never saw that in New York City (where, if you miss a train, you might be waiting for awhile.)

Why is shaving three minutes off our commute so important to us?

1 comment:

Flashtrigger said...

Haha...living in a city with no subway and no trolley or train system, and where the buses run about once a half hour if you're lucky, that struck me as exceptionally funny.