Tokyo commuters (Crunch time!)
If you are a curious one, you may be interested in riding on that infamous rush-hour Japanese train. Be careful with what you wish for. I’m saying this because I was one of the curious cats. At first time, I found it very amusing. A train is all the way full but there is still a small group of people waiting to get a ride. What do they do? They turn around and lift their arms up so that they can support themselves holding against the edge of the door to bury their body into the human wall of the crowd. Now that requires skill and courage. By the time I got used to them, I wanted to explore standing spots for less crunchy ones. Your next few minutes to an hour of commuting misery largely depend on it. First, don’t stay in the door area. People are coming straight from the door, so if you stay there, you are a sandwich meat. Instead, go to the sideways. There may be 1st tier of people already hanging on to the straps but you can be 2nd tier. Secondly, watch out what you’re leaning against with. I was once standing against the pole and holding straps of my purse so my arm was making a cross-shape with vertical metal pole. The door opened, people rushed in, and my arm was pressed against the pole. I thought my bone will break. That was my painful lesson. I’ve also seen people losing their temper shouting as they trying to get off, or a girl’s MP3 was being pulled off from her cloth as people had to smudge against her also when getting off. Anything can be hazardous on a train. But most of the time it’s fun for first week or so. Enjoy.
