Submitted by Daven Cheu, July 13, 2016
The DC metro was constructed, to the best of my knowledge,
during the 1970s. Its architecture definitely shows that influence: stations of
concrete with curves and weight saving cutouts in the vaulted roofs in a
minimalist fashion that mimicked the sights of the streets above. It was built
as part of a city made to facilitate the smoothness of government, a
manifestation of the government America hoped to be.
The trains also reflect that atmosphere, but I can’t help
but see the dream hasn’t aged well but is still well loved by millions, myself
included. I once rode these trains from Fort Myers to the heart of the city
three years ago. Wear and scraps of paper left in crevices reveal the many
stories that followed these train lines. The angular, metallic design alludes
to a vision of the sleek future long since passed.
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| Daven in his meeting with Beto O'Rourke- After our ride on The Blue Line Train |
Today, we got a special treat to the antiquity of the system
despite the attempts at modernization. After Susan tried to find a way to avoid
paying $2 for smart trip cards for all of us as the paper tickets had been
phased out two weeks before, we waited on the platform for a train to Farragut
West. She told us a story of how her little brother was left behind at a subway
station in New York, them going back for him, and realizing they were on the
wrong train the whole time. After a few minutes of waiting on that platform, we
took a train that would never let us forget which one it was.
“This- is -The –Blue- Line- Train- to –Pentagon- City.”
It was Federal Center SW when we stopped at a crowded
platform, the train announcing which direction it was going, but the doors
didn’t open, and we spent the next two minutes slowly inching up the station
until it finally stopped. The intercom didn’t, and the conductor continued
without fail to repeat the name of the train for the rest of the stops
extremely slowly as if everyone in the station was hard of hearing until we finally
arrived at Farragut West. It still continued to ring in our heads and I think the
only way we could get it out, at least the way the rest of the group agreed upon,
was to turn it into a mixtape. The humidity outside was suffocating, so I’d
rather take an UBER. For just a little more than the cost of a Smart Trip card and
fare you could go to the Capitol in under 10 minutes from the hotel.
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