Trains. As I sit in Washington DC’s Union Station, using the free AmtrakConnect wireless, I remember that Qatar is a country of cars. People from car country USA (anywhere but the cities and our densely populated coasts) have more in common with the transportation culture of Qatar than I do.
I understand the culture of trains and public transportation. It has something to do with sharing your air with anyone who can afford a ticket, taking longer to get where you’re going, and looking out the window to participate in the land around you. To me, cars are about isolation, keeping yourself and your family apart from all other people, safe from their eyes and influences, but less connected to the people around you because of that safety.
It is not a good or a bad, but a difference.
Inspirational Quote:
“Railway termini are our gates to the glorious and the unknown. Through them we pass out into adventure and sunshine, to them, alas! we return.”– E. M. Forster
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