May 16, 2009
A student post: train seat-sitting strategy
Every morning at exactly seven fifty two am, at the very back of carriage number three, I see Mr. Yamada, as I ride the train to school. I have never actually talked to him, but on his left pocket on his suit he has a name tag with his company name “M. K.”, and his name YAMADA all in capital letters.
From my station to school is about forty minutes. As you know, trains in Japan are really crowded especially in the mornings so it is really difficult to get a seat. When I get on the train in the morning to go to school, he is always sitting to the left on the third seat from the corner. I always try to stand in front of his seat because I know that he gets off at the next station.
So if everything goes as planned, I only have to stay standing for 4 minutes and then have a nice sleep for about thirty minutes…well this was until last Wednesday. I’m not exactly sure where he went, but I think he catches a different train now. Maybe he get a new job…I'm not sure. I guess I have to find a new passenger to stand in front of now so that I don’t have to stand the whole journey from home to school!
Ryosuke