Would the train smell any better? LOL, probably not. I generally don’t smell like flowers in the afternoon because I do not wear deodorant and it’s hotter than hell in Atlanta. Yes, you read correctly. I do not wear deodorant, and I haven’t in years. But that is a story for another day.

But there are a lot of super stinky people on the train, and they all like to sit near me. But that’s not important. The important thing is that I see so many different types of people on the MARTA train. I try to create stories for them or figure out the kind of life they have and what they do for a living.

I people watch. Even though I always have a book (or three) and my ipod, when I’m on the train I prefer to look at the people. I don’t like to listen to them, gosh, listening to the really talkative people on the train gives me a headache.

I have ridden every train in Atlanta (not on purpose) and there are distinct types of people who ride each train. I normally ride the East-West Line to get to work every day. Last week, I had to ride the North line to drop my car at a long-term lot so I could go to my sis’s graduation. Later, to the airport I had to ride the South train. When I got back to NC and I had to pick up my car I accidentally got on the Northeast line and ended up in f*cking Doraville, which threw me about 45 minutes behind, by the way. Then I had to turn around and go back and get on my correct train.

So, because of my adventures in Atlanta, I know my trains, and I can identify the kinds of people that ride each train. The most pronounced difference is between the northern trains and all the others.

The northern trains (those coming from and heading to Dunwoody and Doraville) have lots of very professional-looking people. Lots of Asian people (computer geeks, my stereotypical guess), and young-ish and middle aged suburban, professional, middle and upper middle class, houses worth upwards of 250K, white commuters. Polos and pink and blue button downs, khakis, ladies in broaches and DKNY and men in golf clothes, wrinkled, sun-glassed and looking at me but not smiling back at me people. There are very few other minorities on these trains (unless they are getting off at one of the mall stops). Another huge difference on this train is that you have to sit beside someone on this train, it is always full and people expect you to slide over so they can sit with you. Which is cool, I’m just used to riding the East-West train.

On the other trains, I almost never let anyone sit with me, or sit with anyone else (unless it’s an old lady). I made the mistake of sitting beside someone during my first week in Atlanta, I thought the guy that I sat with was going to have a fit. On these trains, people would prefer to stand up rather than to sit beside someone else.

Also, the East-West and South trains are FULL of black people. All kinds of black people (and other people). Toothless, dirty, unclean, crazy, screaming, drunk, stinky, hippie, tattooed, and homeless people. Cool-looking artist/student types, wigs, weaves, locs, long and short, naturals, professionals, government workers, old ladies, flip flops, 3 inch heels, loafers, jellies, teenaged or just young looking mothers and babies (like, 5 babies), pretty boys, service workers, teenaged kids, poor people, middle-class commuters. All kinds.

The compelling thing isn’t who I see and what they look like, though I wish I could take pictures of them, seeing them could be so powerful. The very small ethical part of me can’t do it. Damn you, morality!!! Anyway, what is compelling is where all these people come from. All the people are coming into the city from their homes, and their homes are in distinctly different places.

One of the things that I hate about Atlanta is its size. Its huge and its sprawling. Atlanta is huge all by itself, and then when you add all the little suburban towns, the ATL metro is massive. Atlanta, like all large cities, has lots of black people, mostly poor, living in the inner city and most of the white people living in the suburbs.

This bothers me. I don’t care (too much) about where people live. What I care about is the differences in the school systems, crime rates, types of grocery stores, number of boarded up buildings, number of liquor stores, dirty streets, lack of grass, decent housing, graffittied walls.

Take a guess about where the better schools are, which has lower crime rates, who has the better, fresher produce and meat, which has more boarded up buildings and more rodents, where the streets are dirtier, who has the best greenspace, and where the better houses are (even the affordable ones)…..

Yep, I know. Exactly. And that’s what bothers me.