People of the Tram

This time I went on the tram I paid more attention to the people this time than the surroundings. I compared the people to the people I’ve seen on the subway. The people on the tram seem to be much calmer and aren’t as tense or stressed as you would normally see on the subway. One similarity, however, is the diversity on the tram. Since it is not only a mode of transportation but also a tourist attraction, there were many people from all corners of the world, all in this little box, and it really spoke to what New York is about: diversity. We even interviewed one of the tourists and she said, “you really learn to take new york all at once” which I completely agree, not only by its aesthetics but by its people. Much of New York is clearly made up of its people and the tram successfully captures that with different races, different languages, different fashions, different genders, different ages, different identities, and the irony is that although there are so many differences no one feels awkward or as if they don’t belong because that’s what New York is made up of, differences! After I took the tram, I then took the F train from Roosevelt Island and noticed a completely different atmosphere. On the train I saw more worry lines, more people focused on something else, a book, their phone, their iPad, in essence, distracted from being present in one form or another, and it was much quieter. The tram, however, people were looking outside, looking at each other, there was chattering, even strangers talked to one another, and people seemed to just be much more social because with the view, with the people, with the slow ride, they had things to talk about, whereas in a train we’re trapped in this black tiny tunnel only thinking when the next station will come and keeping to ourselves.