Los Angeles I'm Yours

Revisiting the concept of surreptitious meetings between people, I have had quite a few unexpected interactions and experiences riding public transportation in both San Francisco and LA which have been quite entertaining and enlightening. I have been spending quite a lot of time alone in the last couple weeks, as my aunt and uncle have gone out of town until next week. Therefore, I have spent a lot of time either home alone watching “That 70s Show,” baking crisp, watching soccer highlights, going on runs in this extremely hilly neighborhood, and writing posts like these or spending time people watching while walking in the neighborhood, taking public transit, and riding the wave of the crowds downtown.

I will start with LA, the city that this post is named after (I’m really not that enthralled with LA, I just like the Decemberists’ song “Los Angeles I’m Yours.”) After I left the highly emotional and over stimulating environment of Youth to Youth at Claremont McKenna College, I boarded the Metrolink train at the Claremont station bound for Union Station in downtown LA. I hadn’t seen one of my best friends from high school, Ester Kim, in over a year and was on a mission to get myself into the city so that I could spend the evening with her. Alone once again after spending a surreal week surrounded with people, when I arrived at the Claremont station, I was first unsure what to do. The station looked deserted and closed, so I panicked for a second whether trains were actually running. I walked around the station to see an older man probably in his 70s sitting complacently on a bench and saw a train ahead fast approaching the station. I didn’t have a ticket, so I asked the man how I could buy one. He said I wouldn’t have time as the train only stopped for a few minutes at a time.

The thing that I find most interesting about public transportation is that no one talks to each other. I ride the BART or MUNI to work every morning with hundreds of other people at a time I have not had one vocal conversation with any other commuter yet. Similar to my reflections on Youth to Youth, you never know when you will connect with someone at any time, including strangers on a train! I have always believed this to be true, but have never had a real captivating example of human connection until I rode Metrolink.

So, I boarded the train with the older man, sitting across from him because he seemed knowledgeable about the system and would be able to explain anything to me. He was holding a thick book that was written in what looked like Spanish or Italian at first glance. After a couple minutes of silent thought, I decided to surpass my fear of awkwardness and break the conversation barrier, asking the man if he took the train often. It turns out that this was all I needed to begin a captivating conversation. The man’s name name is Jerry and he rides the Metrolink often to go into the city for lectures and meetings for Los Angelian artists and visionaries. He is a retired art history professor and lives with his partner in Claremont. He taught at Pomona for years and now spends his time writing about how to teach art/painting or about very specific moments in Church history as they relate to sacred art. It was fascinating talking to him and even though he was somewhat hard of hearing, he sensed my interest in his stories of traveling abroad and studying art. He is fluent in Italian, German, French, and English and can get by with Spanish and various Scandinavian languages. It was unbelievable! His eyes would light up when he talked about his academic/professional interests which were also his personal interests and he liked to quote classic writers including one that I don’t remember who geniusly quoted, “For every language, there is a soul.” It’s so true! I feel like somewhat of a different person when I speak French and Jerry explained how a different personality of his comes out when he speaks German. He also explained the nuisance of just learning how to speak Italian…because one uses different muscles to speak this language, Jerry’s lips were often sore by the end of a day in Italy. These are only a few of the captivating stories that Jerry told me on this hour-long ride. We both enjoyed each other’s company, and it was interesting how eager he was to talk to me about his interests. Was he lonely or just excited to have someone to talk to about his interests?

After my overnight stay in LA with Ester where I discovered “LA Live,” a restaurant that had 138 beers on tap, and the fact that downtown Los Angeles is actually more green and tree-laden than downtown San Francisco AND Seattle (but not holding a candle to Portland), I took the Metrolink out east once again. This time I sat across from a middle-aged African American woman who I connected with right away. She was visiting LA as well and was riding the Metrolink for only the second time, just like me. She had come into the city to attend Michael Jackson’s funeral a few days prior and was staying with her cousin out east. Turns out that she is now living in the East Bay, so close to where I am currently living and had previously lived in Seattle for 13 years! Not only that, but she had lived in Shoreline where I lived only a month ago! Before that she lived in Portland!! Her brother lives in the same neighborhood that I grew up and he works at OHSU where Dad works. Finally, she had spent some time in Eugene where her daughter went to South Eugene High School, where my freshman roommate, Dewey, went. What a small, small world! We laughed together about all these crazy coincidences and she kept saying, “You are following me, girl!” It was awesome. When she got off the train, I realized I didn’t get her name.

These two stories reminded me of the fact that everyone on this planet craves human connection and meeting other people. It’s funny to me that I had to travel to LA to really realize this…who knew LA was so personable! Sharing stories is one of the most basic ways we can share our common humanity with each other. Once you break the invisible boundary with a first “Hello” or smile, you become acquainted. What’s crazy is that’s all it takes.