A Spoonful of the Metro: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Like any big city, Paris relies on its forms of public transportation to function. And just like any middle-class Parisienne, I rely on the public transportation to get to and from work every day. It is a delight. I could have done a blog post earlier because I've been taking the métro since the first day, but I wanted to give myself some time to observe and establish patterns.

As the title states, there are the good things about the métro like the fact that it's relatively consistent, relatively fast, and relatively convenient. It's also very amusing sometimes. On the other hand, it can be pretty dirty, it's pretty sketch at night, and it's very possible you will be able to feel your neighbor's heart beat on the commute to work. The Ugly rears its head in some of the biggest stations, like Les Halles or Saint-Lazare, where drug dealing goes down. You never can escape the beggars whose careers consist of going from train to train nearly yelling at times to be heard above the noise of the metro. If they like playing the pity card, they'll bring there children with them.

It's just one of those things that you love and hate at times. And just for you, I've catalogued somethings to look out for when you are on the Paris métro:

The Close-Proximity concert- It doesn't really matter if you like their music or not, it's your music of choice if you forgot your mp3 player at home. You can be consoled in the fact that plenty of people are stuck listening to the same music as you and perhaps are just as disappointed with the DJs lack of originality in choosing music.
The Awkward Public Transportation PDA- I know that PDA is inevitable wherever you go. There's a difference though. When there is at least one other person close enough to hear the sweet nothings you whisper into your lover's ear, you know it's not the right place for PDA. This even goes for friends that attempt a bisous in a packed train. Bisous are all very well and good, but unless you want me to join you in it, I'd prefer if you content yourself with a hand-shake or a nod of the head and polite conversation.
The Door-huggers- So what if there is an open space right behind them. They need to be by the door because they're, you know, busier than everybody else.
The Sympathy Standers- You'll see this one in a relatively full train when people start to crowd the people sitting in the collapsible chairs. The people stop right before there's really a need to stand up, but the person sitting down will stand up anyway. Maybe it's because they don't like being at the level of everybody's rear, or maybe it's because they feel bad that everybody else is standing up. Whatever the case it's funny to see their thoughtfulness...do absolutely nothing for anybody else.
The Comfort-First Passengers- Their comfort that is. Forget if everybody else in their cabin is squished like sardines, the collapsible chairs are meant to be sat in, right? Well, actually no, not when we've got a full load, but you wouldn't have known that unless you read the sign right above the seat.

These are just some of the fabulous things you can expect to see time and again on the métro. So be excited, and remember, most of the aggressions reported as happening on the métro are related to cell phone theft.