The Third Thing

I’ll be honest; I like a good “T” alliteration.

I mean, every quarter I make my students attend a Tristinn’s Tea Talks session. My nephews call me Tia Tristinn (or Aunty Tia which outrageously drops my name altogether). I love Tea, Travel, Teaching… I’ve got  a pretty good list of excellent alliterations to choose from. But tonight, I’m choosing a different favorite “T”: Trains.

When people think of riding in trains, they think of bullet trains speeding across China (done that; it’s awesome. 10/10 would ride the Maglev train again). Or perhaps the sophisticated networks in Europe (done that too. 10/10 would ride all the trains in Europe again). Or even trains from 100 years ago (have not done that. 10/10 would go back in time to ride trains).

People do not think of Amtrak’s commuter trains quite as readily.                    

Novice mistake. Riding the local Amtrak train, generally between Portland and Seattle, is a deep pleasure to me. Sure, the train arrives late 70% of the time. And yes, 30% of the time there’s something blocking the tracks, so we have to climb on regular buses (this is gutting actually. I weep in my heart every time). But the other 70% of the time, I get to ride the train.

I love the little luxuries of a train: lots of leg room, no stressing about traffic, food car, WI-FI (sort of). I also love the way you get to experience the world through a train. As every poet/writer in the history of the world has said, it’s a pleasure to just watch the world roll by. The rhythmic sound of a train is a lot more enjoyable than the buzzing sounds of car traffic. And just like an airport, the people you meet along the way can add to the experience.

On my way to the train station tonight, I ended up chatting with a woman who takes the local train, light rail, and a bus to get to work each day (it takes her 2.5 hours one way). I learned she has lived in Tacoma for almost 45 years, lives with her husband and son (who don’t help with the cooking, by the way), and is from Saigon. We briefly bonded over the fact that I visited Vietnam last year as she led me on the quickest route from the light rail to the train station. It was a pleasure.

So, if it's been a minute since you've been on a train, I am Totally Telling you to Take a Terrific Train Today!