"Paradise on Wheels"

My commute is too horrible to even attempt to properly explain, but try telling yourself the following the next time you're sitting behind the wheel in a traffic jam, and feeling frustrated at the lack of freedom of motion.

'No strangers bodies are pressed up against me.'

'No elbows are jammed into my back, sides, etc.'

'No one is stepping on my feet.'

'No one is giving me the evil eye at close range.'

'No one is coughing two feet away.' (As a Tokyo sardine, there is no option of moving away between stations.)

'I can move my arms without irritating ten fellow standing sardines jammed up against me.'

'I can adjust the volume on the stereo' (not possible when you're a Tokyo sardine and can't even reach into your own pocket).

'I roll down the window and breath the outside air if I so choose.'

'When I have a backache, I don't have to stand in pain for three hours a day.'

'Free - free - free! I am free from the he*l of the Tokyo morning crush-rush train system!'

Lyle (Hiroshi) Saxon
http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~LLLtrs/