For the last couple of years, I've been riding the Chicago Metra train back and forth to work. Shortly after we moved to the northern suburbs of Chicago, the Illinois Department of Transportation began a three year $169 million bridge refurbishing project (among other improvements) on the Kennedy Expressway (Interstate 90/94) from the Edens Expressway (Interstate 94) junction all the way to the downtown Ohio Street exit. The lane closures that went along with the construction project added about 45-60 additional minutes to my morning and afternoon commutes. Talk about perfect timing! Thankfully, the project finished this past October both on-time (actually, they finished one month earlier than originally planned) and on-budget (more on that in a future post)!
Even though the Kennedy Expressway project is finished, I'm still riding the train to and from work. I've really enjoyed the quiet time (see my posts, "The Fortress of Solitude" and "Solitude"). It's been a great time to sit, relax, and just think or read a book. I have to be honest, other than the conductor, I don't really talk to anyone else during my commute. And, as it turns out, my behavior is neither out of the ordinary for most commuters or even a new change in behavior (see my post "The Quiet Commute").
But wait, there's more to the story! The other day, my wife shared an article with me that appeared in Classic Chicago Magazine earlier this year ("Remembering the nation's last private railroad commuter car"). The article was written by David A.F. Sweet and talked about Car 553, reportedly the nation's last private "club car" that ran from the Lake Bluff station to the Ogilvie Station in downtown Chicago. As Sweet described it, "club cars" were quite popular during the middle of the 20th century. He wrote, "Briefcases were shut and work was forgotten as bridge games, rather than a quest for profit, engrossed members." In other words, commuters would pay a special membership fee to be allowed to ride in the exclusive car, which was more or less like a club (see a photo below). Commuters could select food and drinks from a special menu, and Car 553 apparently even included a barber's chair, so that members could get a haircut or shave during the commute. By the year 2016, Car 553 was the only operating commuter membership car in the United States. Car 553 was removed from service in 2022, ending the era of the so-called "club car" for good.
I can only wonder, if I had the option, whether I would choose to pay an additional membership fee (which ranged as high as $550 to $850 per calendar quarter) just to be able to ride in an exclusive car and talk with other commuters or play bridge! I suspect that I would not. The more important question, however, is whether something that encouraged human interaction and discourse is preferable to the choice to seek solitude that seems to be so prevalent in today's society. As I've stated in the past, the former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has claimed an "an epidemic of loneliness" in today's society (please see my posts "The Loneliness Epidemic" and "Ubuntu"). Dr. Murthy places much of the blame on social media and smart phones, but I can't help but wonder if some of our loneliness is a consequence of our own choosing. Is our desire for solitude at least in part to blame for our loneliness?
Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder published an interesting study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology around ten years ago ("Mistakenly Seeking Solitude"). The accompanying press release from the University of Chicago said it best, "An interesting social paradox plays out every morning around the world as millions of people board commuter trains and buses: Human beings are one of the most social species on the planet, yet when in close proximity with one another – sitting inches away on a train – we routinely ignore each other." Epley and Schroeder found that participants in their experiments not only underestimated strangers' interest in connecting, but they also reported positive experiences by both being spoken to and to speaking with strangers.
Epley and Schroeder conducted a total of nine experiments, both in the field and in the laboratory setting. Study participants were Chicago commuter train and public bus riders who were asked to talk to a stranger, to sit in solitude, or to do whatever they normally would do, then fill out a survey to measure how they felt afterwards. Even though the study participants reported greater well-being when they did engage with strangers, they predicted precisely the opposite pattern of experiences. Based on the survey results, study participants were reluctant to engage with strangers, because they felt that other people wouldn't be interested in talking. Again, Epley and Schroeder found that the opposite was the case. Not only were people open to making idle conversation, they found the experience much more pleasurable when they did, particularly compared to choosing silent solitude.
In my post, "Connections", I talked about Aaron Hurst and "The Six Points of Connection" that can help foster a sense of community and restore our trust in society today. We need to get back as a society to emphasizing personal connections and the "human touch" (see my post, "We all need the human touch..."). Perhaps being open to talking with strangers is a good starting point.
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