The Metro is the Heart of Moscow. The first line opened in 1935; it is the gift of the Soviet Union. The Metro now consisting of 12 lines and transporting an average of 6.6 Million passengers a day is the second busiest in the world after Tokyo.
My most memorable metro rides thus far have been falling asleep on the train and being woken up by the conductor lady with a paddle that is red on one side and white with a black dot in the center on the other, a drunk man caught peeing on the platform being spanked with the same paddle by a similar conductor, having a group of 20 somethings start a dance circle with music from their cell phone in my metro car, and lastly seeing a man bowl through the metro carrying two car tires he had just bought. This list is preliminary and I can’t wait for it to grow.
A recurring thought I have on my daily commute is something I heard from a sales training. The idea is that if you run through a crowd people will move out of your way. This is true in the metro. I see it everyday. More importantly it is true in daily life. When we are moving ‘faster’ than everyone else they let you pass by to success. If we want to be successful and to get ahead we can’t be moving out of the way for those who chose to run. We need to put on our trainers and go for a mad dash, because once you pick up the speed no one will dare get in your path.
My 2+ hours a day on the metro are full of these thoughts, but what makes the ride worth it for me is that I don’t have to deal with my road rage.
The Soviet army, after conquering Berlin, they actually took the cars of the Berlin subway, and used them in Moscow. The last one of those German cars was still in service at the beginning of the eighties. All that is fact.
ReplyDeleteNow, the Russians joke that, when the last german car was taken out of service... then they started using the old ones again. xD