Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Transit Mystic IX

Reading on the bus. A great way to pass the time between origin and destination. Also very effective for giving the appearance of disinterested aloofness so important for proper transit posture.
Ever pay attention to what people read on the bus? The unwritten rule to reading on the bus is to read something light and interruptable (stay away from long philosophical treatises. Nothing steals your attention quite like passengers who get on the bus with mullets half way down their backs or eyebrows painted on half way up their foreheads). Mass market paperbacks and newspapers are standard. For the average person anything bigger, longer or heavier is simply unreadable for the long bumpy ride down Henderson Highway.
So you can understand my surprise when, a few months ago, this fellow comes on the bus, sets himself down on one of the sideways benches in the front, opens his briefcase and pulls out a large hardcover commentary on 1 Kings and then proceeds to read it from Portage & Main to Gilmour & Melon Lea. I applaud the effort.
I must confess that I too have trespassed into the realm of atypical transit reading material. This past week I found my nose wedged between the pages of Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by H. R. Rookmaaker. Not exactly Danielle Steele, but a good book for anyone puzzled by the modern art world. Highly recommended, but hard to follow if there is a mullet sitting in front of you.

Perplexing Questions

To all my fellow liberal arts majors out there...