Morning Commute: Entry Seven:

The sunrise is striking this morning. It is cloudy and the colors don't last long and are limited to a small space above the Pilsen skyline, bordered by a billowing smoke stack and the tall twin steeples of St. Paul's Catholic Church on Hoyne. I move to the end of the platform to better appreciate the sunrise but no sooner do I get there, the deep amber and purples fade to a bluish grey. Any residual colors are obscured by the shadowy row houses.

A stream of audio commentary flows through the train. A man stands near the door in a decorated purple hoody with shaped hip line. He is obviously talking to himself but with such clarity and calm that I look around to see if he has a voluntary audience. From my seat I cannot see him and it is easy to forget that he is schizo-phrenic. His soft voice is drowned out by that of the engineer who in a similarly soothing tone tells us that the train must wait until 7:07 to depart this station. She implores us to call a certain number and complain about the delay. She views the slow schedule as the residue of construction work that is complete. She is tired of going slow. She is cut-off by the shimmering announcer voice who tells us that the doors are closing and that they open on the left at Damen. This is followed by the trebly music emitted from my neighbor's head phones - a fast and furious norteno music.

I am not calling that number if it means I have to get up earlier to catch her. I hope she doesn't take it upon herself to speed things up, afterall we merge with the other blue line at Racine - that could prove disastrous, don't you think?