I'm one of the crazy ones. I like public transportation.

Most of my friends do not feel this way, and if they do ride the bus and/or the Metro, they complain incessantly. I get it. When you're riding during rush hour, you will be standing at least as much as you will be sitting. People are stinky (especially in the summer, and steamy, rainy days are the worst). The buses and trains will throw you around (or throw people into you). And some folks carry on insane conversations on their phones in the loudest voices possible (Actual person last week, two seats down from me: "Can you believe that motherfucker? I would motherfucking fuck him up until there's nothing left of him to fuck. Fuck him, fuck his momma and fuck his tiny little dick!" An instant classic, to be sure).

Actually, I like the crazy people on their phones. I like the crazy people in general. A couple of months ago, I had to ride over to Virginia for work. On my way back, a group of young women were riding in to work (at 11:30, but whatever). They mercilessly attacked/flirted with a young man for about fifteen minutes. I quietly listened to their barbed repartee. And then, when I got off the train, one screamed "So long, Brad Pitt!"

As I missed attending Missouri at the same time as Brad Pitt by a semester, I will always appreciate the one time in my life that I was compared to him, even if it was sarcastic.

Public transportation is the perfect distillation of the randomness of life. I see neighbors or friends two or three mornings a week. And even though I leave work well before rush hour, I often know someone on the train or bus on my way home. Even so, I don't know most of the people around me and likely will never see them again. This leads some folks to act like total exhibitionists (the phone people, for example). I'm happy to take in their insanity. It's entertaining. And it's a reminder that not everyone lives their lives the way I do.

I think this is the real source of the discomfort many people have with public transportation. Sure, there are the control freaks who can't handle that someone else is in charge of getting them to their destination. But there aren't many of those. The bigger issue is that most of us can't handle "the other."

"The other" is the category where we stick people that we view as "not like us." Some folks use skin color to make this determination. Others use gender, religion, sexual orientation and more. Most of us use a combination. But the key thing about "the other" is that we allow ourselves to not treat those people with the basic courtesy we demand. It's not so much that "the other" are lesser people as much as people we don't have to worry about.

Public transportation is full of "the other." And if your list of "the other" is pretty big, then even a single ride on the bus will wig you out. On the other hand, if you ride public transportation for a while, you might find that your definition of the other will shrink dramatically. You never know.

I don't care if people cough on me. I don't care if they fart in my general direction (which would be an impressive feat). I don't care if a 300-pound guy crashes in to me when the train makes an unexpected stop. Well, I care enough to make sure that I don't get hurt, but that's about it. I don't feel the need to get mad about it or anything. These things are part of walking and breathing in the real world. With all of my fellow citizens.

September is the month when everyone gets off vacation and heads back to work. Rides to work (and back) are more crowded and beastly than they've been in three months. Everyone's complaining. But I'm just waiting for another crazy person on the phone. Those folks always make my day.

Jon Worley wouldn't mind being called "Brad Pitt" at least once more during his lifetime.