The 'Read' Line

I like to watch. You. When you're on the train on your way to work, when you're on the bus going home, when you're going shopping, etc., I just like to watch.

Don't get too creeped out, though, there's nothing too perverse going on. It just seems that no matter how many magazines I've packed, no matter what TV show (like Rachel Maddow or the Anderson Cooper podcast) is on my ipod for me to watch or what book I may be carrying in my hands, when I am on public transportation I can't help but look around and look at people and try to imagine where they are going, where they've come from, what's up with them, etc. This isn't much fun during rush hour, because people generally are going to and from work, which doesn't interest me at all. So, no matter what time of day it is, I'll take a look at what people are reading and go "hmmm."

I don't know what any of this would mean, but here on this blog I'll occasionally note what I've seen -- who the reader is, what form of public transportation they were spied on, what they were reading of course, and any other impressions I had of them. Unless otherwise noted, these are all observed on the Chicago Transit Authority trains and buses. I'm not going to judge (I save that for people who read the piece of poop 'Red Eye' commuter rag), just observe. Just take it for what it's worth, which is not much, probably.

So here's the first edition, compiled from a few days' observations.

• CTA Brown Line, Tuesday 1:30 p.m., heading downtown:

*White male, mid-30s to 40-ish, beard and glasses, red and white checkered short sleeve dress shirt, khaki shorts, Nike running shoes with running socks. Reading: 'Confederacy of Dunces.'

*White male, late 20s, jeans and short sleeve T-shirt, black canvas Chuck Taylors, long-ish sideburns, with a somewhat grown-out faux hawk. Reading: 'In Cold Blood.'


• CTA Red Line, Wednesday, 7:30 a.m., heading downtown:

* White female, 30 to 40, short, light brown hair, man's dress shirt with purple and yellow vertical stripes, black slacks, leather jacket, Asics running shoes. Reading: 'Valley of the Dolls.'