Social/Cutural

Social/Cultural Immersion Essay

The subway is one of the most unique ways to travel. From the moment that you step on that last step towards the platform, to the time you’re sitting on the train, you’re immediately flooded with different sights, sounds and smells. Cultures clash, and for a spilt second of riding the train, everyone is moving and together as one. It is interesting to take a step back and to look at everyone boarding and exiting the tram. So many questions flood through my head as I scan the room. Where are they going? Why are they on this train? Is their destination the same as mine?

The musky, dry smell of the subway hits you immediately when you walk down those concrete steps. The artificial lighting adds to the effect of how dreary this place can seem. The life comes from the thousands of people that walk those same steps, and ride the same trains. How many of those are getting away from it all, and how many are rushing to get home? Loneliness found in people is just a way of looking for intimacy or warmth or acceptance Rokach explains in his article. There is always people waiting for their train, and trains pulling in every 5 minutes. The lines form immediately as soon as the train is seen pulling into the station. This is where the real adventure begins.

The rush to find an available seat is something I never seem to have much luck with. But whether it’s standing or sitting, you always manage to get bumped or brushed by people passing by. Strangely enough, this is one of the things that I like the most about the subway. With every slight contact and breeze, the person’s smell travels straight to my nose. The smell could be anywhere from cigarettes, laundry detergent, food, or just their culture. Everyone has their own distinctive smell about them. The different smell of cuisines and homely smells keeps me distracted by guessing there person’s whereabouts or ethnicities. I could smell axe body cologne and think immediately of my boy friend. In its own way, I think that smell defines a person. What other place deals with many people in a confined area from all different places other than the subway.

Another attractant about the subway: if you take a close look it takes you wherever you want for just a small fee. I usually take the subway from my small town to the busy city of Philadelphia. It is so great that this piece of machinery could take you from a small, easy-going