Platinum Traveling

So I apologize for not posting for quite a while. I honestly just haven't had much to write about. Happily, I am on vacation this weekend and traveled to Chicago to see some friends of mine. KM and CS have a great apartment in Wicker Park (yes, that Wicker Park for all you movie buffs out there) and both seem to be doing great in their new respective lives. Seeing as how I've spent the weekend traveling, I thought I'd remark on a platinum and not-so platinum travel moment I had this weekend.

Platinum Packing
For those of you that know my family, you'll know that they are atrocious at packing. Since I was a child, it's always been a more stuff=better mentality when it comes to packing for any kind of trip, be it for a day or a week. The results of this were cramped cars, lots of time spent packing/unpacking, and my family never really being forced to think about what we wanted to do (and therefore needed to pack) on trips. Not surprisingly, my family is also not good about cleaning out old crap we have in our house. Having seen the houses of my relatives, and most importantly my grandparents, I'm tempted to use Psych 101 to describe this as the "Depression Conception of Packing/Storage." DCOPS means that you want quantity over quality and that you hold onto things you have no reason to because "You never know when they could be useful."

I, at least in my adult life, firmly reject this way of thinking. I pack light and think strategically about what are the most likely things I'll be doing on any given trip. I don't check baggage and I don't eat or drink before or during travel for the most part. These are all things that will slow you down. I can pack for just about any weekend trip (and most other trips) in less the 20 minutes. I keep a bag of toiletries packed for just this purpose (including a ziplock bag for TSA). All in all, I'm able to travel about as efficiently as a business traveler, despite having far less practice.

On the home front, I periodically (about once a month) go through all of my paperwork and throw out/shred anything I don't honestly need. All of my bills and paperwork from banks are sent to me paperless via email. I give away/throw out crap that I don't need or doesn't fit me anymore. Being someone who has the attention span of one of my third grade male students, I know that I like to move around and am not likely to stay in one apartment or city for more than a year or two. Staying lean and mean makes it easy for me to do that. Caveat: I'm not saying that how my parents or relatives live/pack is bad; I'm saying it doesn't work for someone with my lifestyle and desire to control my living space.

Metro Non - Platinum Behavior
Anyone who has used public transportation (or probably any kind of transportation) for any period of time can tell you that there are norms for behavior. Don't stand on the left on the escalator. Let people get off the train/bus before you try to get on. Don't play your music loud enough so other riders can listen to it. There are honestly a million of these and the more you ride public transit, the more you learn some of the more nuanced ones, like realizing that where you should stand on a train can be determined based on how long it is till your stop (stand in the middle the of the train if you've got a long way to go so that you don't get in the way of those getting on and off in the interim). But there are few norms of behavior in these situations that are easier to comprehend and follow than "Don't fight."

On Friday night, I was on the metro heading over to a friend's and saw a fifteen (not kidding) girl fight going on at L'Enfant Plaza. I heard it as I came up the escalator from downstairs. A bunch of black girls were arguing and talking very loudly. Being Friday night and a strategically located Metro station, there were a pretty good number of people on the platform, all watching from the corner of their eyes. The arguing continued to escalate until the girls began throwing punches and a scrum ensued (the fight started right as the train was pulling in). Two things were striking: 1) It didn't look as though anyone was going to look for a train attendant or police officers (who should have been there, given this particular station is known for this sort of thing) and 2) The very fact that people were around seemed to agitate the girls more. As many have said before me, no one wants to be the punk, even if it means getting your ass kicked in the meantime. It, along with the other fights I've seen on a metro (see drunk white guys at 2:30 am later that night) are some of the most depressing things I've witnessed in my adult life. Maybe it's because I'm a sissy, but it's incredibly sad to see people fight out of sheer boredom.