On a Train

Sitting on the train one gets to see a lot of people. Sitting on the train you get to think about a lot of things as well. All of which lead one to ask the questions regarding the meaning of life. For example the person right next to me said "Oh I am stoned," talking on his cellphone all the while on the train filled to the brim with people. The person in front of me refuses to get off in Oceanside - seemingly doesn't feel comfortable there, and if you have ever lived there that's pretty legitimate.

Apart from being hungry, like I said before you get to think about the status of things, life in general while on a train. My train ride actually started with a three hour bus ride from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara. In that time I had a chance to continue reading 1776, which it seems I only read on long trips. In the book George Washington asks continuously what he is suppose to believe in, about the country he is suppose to be defending. He writes to his fellow John Reed, that he cannot make heads or tails of the army, that the sense of patriotism is lost among those who wanted an America.

I look out the windows traveling across much of central and southern California coast. I see many types of homes, from the million dollar ocean fronts to the mish-mash trailer parks. I wonder do these people who live in these places think of themselves as American? As patriots? Is the meaning for those words worth any weight at all in today’s society? I wonder if these people vote, if they even know anything about George Washington, if they know about the current state of world affairs (outside of “we shouldn’t be in Iraq”).

Not to compare myself to the greatest President that may have ever existed, but like George Washington I too wonder at this time and juncture for our country, do we really think of our selves as Americans? As patriots? Sometimes we go on with our lives, thinking of just ourselves, and some of us even go through our entire lives without think of where we came from and where we will go. Not once does it cross the minds of millions of citizens, that they are Americans.

Shit I have never seen so many people on the train.