Lessons from Metro...

Last Friday, I reached the Metro platform at Brookland/CUA just in time to hear the woman announce, "Doors closing." So, I ran in between the two metro doors and cleared them just in time. It really pissed off the electronic voice because she promptly told everyone, "Please stand clear of the doors.....Thank you." In the mist of celebrating my good luck, I failed to realize the hornet's nest that I had stepped into. Apparently some white kid did exactly what I did and hit an old Armenian man in the process. When I say hit, I really mean bumped. And in the stupid white kid's defense, the silly old man was standing directly in front of the doors. However he was not entering or exiting the train. He simply enjoyed the view from the doors. So as I quickly became aware of my surroundings, I realized I should step back because the old man had now lifted his cane from the floor and was swinging it around. He finally calmed down and after much coaxing from another Metro rider, he sat down in the seats reserved for the handicap and elderly - conveniently located BESIDE the doors. Usually my Metro ride goes by fairly quickly. There are only three stops between Brookland and Union Station. Last Friday, I swear it felt like I was on the train for an eternity. From the moment he sat down, the old man went on and on about how ignorant Americans are and how we don't respect anything. At first his rant was annoying me - it was loud and half incoherent. Then as he continued, he generally just pissed me off. As I stepped of the train in Union, I almost turned and said, "Look old man, if you hate America so much...GO HOME!" But, I just let him make an ass out of himself and calmly exited the train.

Today when I was on Metro, I happened to think of the silly old man - partly because I had the same great luck of reaching the platform just in time to hear the announcement that the doors were closing. The more I thought of the old man, the more I couldn't help but think he was right. Last summer, I went to DC with my mom to do some site seeing. Whenever I'm in DC, I try to visit The Wall. We got to DC rather early, so we decided to head to The Wall first, and then hit the museums on the way back up the mall. Huge mistake - every freaking elementary, middle, and high school in the tri-state area had dropped their pupils off at the memorials. If you've never been to The Wall in DC, there is a HUGE sign before you start down the pathway that says "Quiet." Apparently these pupils were illiterate, because they were yelling at each other and singing stupid songs - just generally acting like idiots. I couldn't even get up to The Wall for the mobs of students filing past. The worst part is - yes, they were walking down the pathway, but they weren't looking at The Wall. They were blowing bubble gum bubbles and talking about prom and talking about football and pushing each other and listening to walkmen. The Wall is like a cemetary. It's not a place for ignorance and disrespect. It's actually more sacred than a cemetary. Americans weren't exactly accepting of the young men and women who fought in Vietnam. To many, this is all they've got. The students weren't respectful and quite honestly, the teachers accompanying these students weren't respectful. This disregard for respect spilled over to the Korean War Memorial where the high school students were playing in the fountain and running among the statues. They were posing with their friends with their arms around the soldier statues. I got so mad, I had to leave the area. I walked away from this trip thinking that you should have to be 21 to go to these memorials. And, I couldn't help but wish that a Vietnam veteran would've been at The Wall to put them all in their place. Unfortunately, they probably would've rolled their eyes at him and carried on with their bubblegum blowing.

I think the silly old man was right - Americans are ignorant and we don't respect anything. We don't respect our elderly, we don't respect our neighbors...hell, I don't even think we respect ourselves. The moral of this week's Metro lesson is "respect thyself and others." I think I saw this on Sesame Street about 20 years ago...am I the only person who watched that episode???