The Joys of Public Transportation

When you're taking public transportation almost daily, you start noticing things.  Enough to perhaps write a book some day.  But, for now, here's just a snapshot of the many amusing things you might notice. [Note that the following are all real situations, as much as I'd like to believe otherwise.]

1. Lady is holding a newspaper with one hand, and the other hand has a tiny container of trail mix or something of the like.  Every so often, she hold the container up to her mouth, sticks out her tongue and scoops up some of the mix with her very long tongue.  Can you picture this?  I've seen infants eat better!
2. First you hear a cough.  Then a hacking cough.  And then the really deep, mucous-y hacking cough. Coughing doesn't stop.  And the cringing doesn't stop, because guess what?  The cougher's letting it all spray out.  
3. Morning rush hour always means one thing: smelly armpits and body odour.  And when everyone's packed in like sardines and you're already late, you get real good at holding your breath. 
4. A middle-aged man gets on with a tiny dog.  He takes a long sweeping glance, and rather than sitting on one of the many empty seats, he plops himself onto the dirty floor.  Three stops later, he sees a used transfer lying a couple of feet away, and he scurries quickly to grab it.  He examines it, turns it over and then places it in his pocket.  Maybe he collects transfers?
5. An elderly man has obviously got a really bad flu/cold.  He's sneezing and wheezing, and wiping his nose.  With a Kleenex or handkerchief, you're presuming.  Sorry for the disappointment, ladies and gents.  No Kleenex, no hanky, not even his sleeve.  He gets up to walk towards the doors, grabbing on to the metal poles as he passes by, leaving nothing but the sheen of fresh snot glittering on the metal.  Fun.    
6. You'll like this one:  Toronto has a huge bed bug problem.  HUGE.  And get this, the reason the problem has spread so quickly is the big ol' TTC.  Yep.  I bet you'll think twice before hopping on a train during rush hour now, won't you?  :P

Moral of the story, boys and girls, is this:  After riding the Red Rocket (ha!), you really have no clue what you've touched, or who's touched it before you.  Happy scrubbing!

P.S.  The authour takes no responsibility for any possible ramifications of reading this post; this includes events such as becoming a germophobe, or obsessively refusing to ever ride the TTC again.