Random (March 2006) 上班族時期的一篇隨想…

As I stood on the platform of Chungxiao Xinsheng station waiting for my morning train, I found my eyes fixated on the TV screen above me, which has now become a standard accessory at each of the MRT stations. What is normally shown on these screens is one after another movie trailers and repeats of the same commercials.

I tried to move my eyes away, surveying the impeccably clean station illuminated with bright fluorescent lights.

If life is to be reduced to this…day in and day out, rushing past strangers and staring at one screen after another. Modernity can be dehumanizing.

Images of the humongous, dimly-lit DC subway stations flashed on my mind and overlapped with those of the brightly lit Taipei MRT. DC subways have always made me think of another space other than the one we live in. The long escalator ride going down the dome shaped concrete tunnel was like a ride into a different world. The pale orange lighting makes the stations look all the more futuristic and somewhat unreal.

My wandering thoughts were brought to a stop as the doors of the train rattled open in front of me. I entered the train like I have done many hundreds or even thousands of times before. By one of the window seats were a man and a woman dozing off: two strangers sitting side by side who may have never exchanged a look at each other but have fallen asleep all the same. This mental snapshot brought back memories of the Tokyo trains on which all the lucky passengers who were able to secure a seat have their eyes tightly shut, getting their much needed nap before the punctual and sardine-packed trains take them to another long day at work.

During my short 3-min ride on the Taipei train, I spotted another girl with ultra long eye lashes and dark, oversized pupils…most likely enhanced with one of those contact lenses that Ayumi Hamasaki endorsed. As the images I saw on my daily train ride merged with images in my memory of subways in different cities, the train arrived at my destination, ejecting a few tens of people rushing to work, hoping not to miss the deadline to punch in their cards… Day after day this is the way it is. and I could only temporarily disrupt this routine with my reminiscences of the past and dreams of the future.