Sydney Trains 24 Hour Strike & Life in Motion

While the last train out of Sydney may be almost gone with The Australian Government and The Unions about to duel across the tracks in a bitter wage dispute of which neither side will likely be satisfied and the general populace left stranded as a result of no fluid transportation, it brings to the fore how much these iron chariots impact our life, particularly if your in the large percentage of people who find themselves almost living as semi permanent resident's across a long daily city commute…

If you fall into that demographic you will probably know all too well the feeling, your usual seat, the usual faces and the all too common regular delays, as you spend the better part of several hours a week in transit, while like most going about your life via phone, tablet or newspaper (for the old school) biting up the latest podcast, video or tid bit of news.

Yet I often find it interesting, and I don’t know if I am the only one, the amount of “life in motion” you actually observe during those long transits, in front of me the woman chats with her friend on the phone about how her friend thinks she’s “dating that guy” but she insists they are “Totally just friends, since when is a Macca’s run considered a date in your slippers?” while over the shoulder in-front of me I see a man on his laptop reading what I can only help but assume “sensitive corporate emails” in a carriage of over 500 people and wonder to myself if corporate espionage is really a thing.

Behind me I hear a reporter for a semi-mainstream television station openly conduct an interview over the phone and think to myself “guerrilla marketing?” and then of course there is the urban legend of “pacey train man” who seems to be on every platform, every few weeks, of which you would consider a case for help had he not been doing this for the past decade and I’m sure very well known to any beat cop (yeah you all know who I am talking about) who has ever done the regular train run.

Perhaps its just me, but I am sure I am not the only one that finds the fascination of this life in motion interesting, not only form the social snapshot point of view, but even at an anthropological level, the sights, the sounds and stories, well… when I’m not sleeping that is.

In my time I have seen business executives conduct impromptu meetings, interesting scallywags openly engage in illicit purchasing activities, couples feud and couples love, even overheard an interesting crypto-trade lead once or twice, yet the most fascinating aspect to me, if only at a philosophical level is how all this takes place, all this action, this life in motion rich in diversity all seemingly “isolated” inside of a metal box running on a railway at 100kph, with the one thing all shared in common is that everyone, has a place to be.

Akin to life is it not? If only but in metaphor, as we all sail around the sun on a giant rock in space, life in motion persists on the train, as we propel along a metal track all together in what many of us regular commuters would almost consider the “home between home” if you like watching people, or appreciate social psychology or anthropology you will probably find it fascinating.

Or perhaps you just like the tabloid aspect of chiming in on the latest exclusive story from passenger a1 in isle 2b, whatever camp you fall into, I think all of us have probably experienced or noticed some interesting things on the trains at times, what’s makes it interesting is yes, on one hand its just a train, on the other its 500 people in a rectangle for an hour while life plays out, kind of interesting don’t you think? I think so, I’m sure I’m not alone.

Whatever your opinions on the wage dispute, lets leave politics at the closing doors, but tell me, what are some of the interesting stories or tales you have from your daily commute? spare specifics and keep it civil, but drop your comments down below and share your interesting or amusing observations.