The Underground 

Experience
Written By: Natalie Duckor
A person grips the smooth ebony rubber while jerkily being taken below the
surface.  Overflowing with concerns and thoughts, a person experiencing this
journey is absorbed in one’s own mind.  There is no judgment or criteria to be
met in order to take part in this experience.  Every person shares the common
desire of reaching one’s own destination. This public transportation system that
millions of individuals take part in everyday is the D.C. Metro.
The insecurities of sitting next to a stranger are stripped once entering the
Metro car. It does not matter a person’s economic or social status when taking
the Metro.   Grasping on to the cold steel bar, a person may be standing next to
someone from opposite ends of the spectrum in society.  Even if it is for two
minutes, two people may sit next to each other, when in any other situation they
would not cross paths.
This time underground is unique for each individual.  This may be a person’s
commute to a funeral, work, or a first interview.  And the beauty is the mystery
of this commute.  While everyone is riding the Metro, it is never divulged to
anyone else what each person’s destination is. It is a revolving door of people
entering and exiting the Metro car, which contributes to the fast paced energy
underground.  Shuffling, running, or even leaping through the Metro car doors,
every person leaves this underground phenomenon and returns to his or her
daily routine.
However, this foreign experience that occurs within the Metro has evolved into
part of a “routine.”  No person truly stops to think about this unique interaction
that people take part in on a day-to-day basis.  Drowning out this commute
with listening to music, reading the news on a smart phone, or flipping through
the newspaper, people view this time as nothing more than ordinary.  In reality
there is nothing else truly like the Metro system.