The more often we see the things around us – even the beautiful and wonderful things – the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds – even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less. Joseph B. Wirthlin

Hello DMV neighbors.  For those who do not live in or around Washington, DC, DMV is an abbreviation for the District of Columbia (DC), Maryland, and Virginia metro area. As a person who lives in the suburbs of Maryland, I had the life changing opportunity of working in DC and Virginia at different periods in time. This meant I had to use the metro in commuting to work. Oh, the joys of riding the metro!!! You see, if you have never taken a train ride into the DMV area, you will not completely empathize with me on this post.

I used to take the early morning (6:45 a.m. – 7:30.a.m.) metro train from New Carrollton metro station for about forty-five minutes to an hour and a half to my stops in DC and Virginia. I had some life changing experiences while on the train. One time as I sat alone on a two-sitter, we got to a stop and an older African American female came aboard the car I was riding in. She headed straight towards me and sat on the empty seat beside me. I quickly glanced at her and that was the worst action I made that fine morning. This lady immediately told me she had a knife in her purse and was going to cut my neck open. I could tell she was not alright as she kept twitching. I sat beside her for about a minute, and in that minute, she threatened to do a whole lot to me with the knife in her purse. Of course, immediately the train got to the next stop, I got down from the car and ran to the next car. While I was walking away, she stated “Yeah, you better run, or else I’ma cut you.” I didn’t want to find out if she really had a knife in her purse or prolong my short contact with her!

There was also a time I was on a train ride back to New Carrollton Metro station at the end of the work day and an African American male came aboard. He was selling “Incense sticks” and a few other handy items. He started pleading with passengers to patronize him as he was fresh out of jail for his second offence and had no intentions of going back to jail for his third strike. None of the passengers in my car paid him any attention because as can be expected, everyone just wanted to be home already. The fact that he was not acknowledged in any way by the passengers must have infuriated him because he goes on a rant afterwards. He starts to say he has a gun and does not care if he goes back to jail for his third strike (I was confused because he stated a few minutes earlier that he had no intention of going back to jail for a third strike). He said he was trying to live right by making an honest living but if nobody patronizes him, he will go back to his life of crime. He also stated he had trouble getting a job because of his criminal past and because he was fresh out of jail. You can imagine some of the passengers started to get nervous because this is a black man, fresh out of jail, threatening to shoot passengers in the car with no remorse. An older woman called him over and she starts to tell him the dangers of what he was saying and calmly told the guy not to sell his wares on the train. Surprisingly, this guy gets off at the next stop but not before throwing some insulting words at all the passengers for not patronizing him.

A train ride on the metro is a learning experience. You get to see the stereotypical “black guy with his pants around his knees, blasting hard core rap music and calling females every derogatory word known.” I shudder every time one of such came aboard the car I was in. My first thought was “must you really stick to the stereotype?” I also saw some Caucasians with “fear in their eyes,” praying to get to their stop without any incident. Additionally, I got to see the occasional male who scored a female’s phone number before the short ride ended. Ah!!! The blossoming of a romantic connection.

I have lots of stories from my ride on the metro, but I pass the baton over to you to share your metro observations/experiences.