Ylliks

I haven’t used public transport regularly since I was a student (many years ago), mainly because I wasn’t impressed by it then. Yes, it would get you from A to B, but travel information was scarce, never mind the fact that it wasn’t the most comfortable way to travel. But with my new job I have been commuting and going to meetings outside the office more and used public transportation to get me there.

And I’m pleased to say that things have improved quite a bit since my earlier experiences. Trains, trams and buses have become more comfortable. Buses and trams have LCD displays which show which stop is next (so you don’t have to rely on the mood of the driver to know where yours is). Bus stops have electronic information boards which show you which line will be next and how much time it will take to arrive. Sites like 9292OV can give you a complete route to your destination and with the new OV chipcard you have a single payment option for all your public transport travels. And with the night lines it’s even become an option as transport for a night on the town.

But it’s not perfect yet. Every once in a while a train still will be late or will just be cancelled. Buses and trams still break down. You can order your OV chipcard online and have it send to you, but when you want to use it for train travel you’ll still have to stand in line at the station ticket desk to have it activated. Same goes for when you want to charge it automatically. Villages outside of the greater urban areas still are difficult to reach.

Still, it’s much better than I remember and there’s real improvement. In many large cities, public transport is the best way to get around. You don’t have to stand in traffic jams to get there and you don’t have to pay outrageous fees to park. During rush hour most public transportation is even a quicker and better option. Just hop in a train and relax with a book or paper (or use a laptop since free wifi is available in some trains now as well) and use a bus or tram to get to your final destination.

It can be quite a joy to use public transport nowadays.

Maybe I’m too much of a down to earth guy to get it, but I never understood this obsessive fandom of certain people; girls swooning and fainting at boy band concerts, people following bands all over the worlds or flame wars on Twitter because a certain statement about an artist was not appreciated. Sure, I have my favorite writers, artists, directors, you name it. For me it’s all about appreciating the work they create and how much I enjoy it. I get excited when I know some new work of them is comming out (but not like this), but I don’t get upset if others don’t like it nor if my, let’s call them, idols don’t win an award.

At this years Grammy Awards, Esperanza Spalding won in stead of fan favorite Justin Bieber. Although he’s not my type of musician, I can understand the appeal of Bieber. The kid seems to have talent and appeal. And if Spalding was some kind of hyped up talent-show winner I could be sympathetic to the outrage. But she’s far from that and seems to be a very talented artist (as evident by her performance in this video). But no matter why she won, to go as far as to attack Spalding’s Wikipedia page or sending death threats through Twitter is going so far over the line of decency, it looks like a dot.

I mean, let’s be honest here: this is about a little statue, not the fact that she took away a grant that would enable Bieber to, let’s say, create a cure for cancer (although, if you believe some Bieber fans he’s capable of that as well). I think it would show great class from Bieber if he would condemn these attacks on someone who’s probably just as engaged in their music as he seems to be.

So people, get a grip! Just because somebody who isn’t your idol wins doesn’t meant the world is going to end. Things will stay pretty much the same. So you better settle down and figure out what’s real important. Trust me, it’s not an award won by your favorite artist.

Since my move I commute to my place of work by train. Although it takes up a fair amount of time it’s a much better option than going by car since the Dutch road system is pretty much blocked with traffic jams during rush hour. And during my travels I was reintroduced to the train vendors.

Mostly these are students who try to make an extra buck selling coffee, tea, soda and sweets. During the busiest hours of the day they trot through the train, hauling their merchandise in a sort of backpack. Usually they enter a wagon, raise their voice to announce they have something to sell and walk through to see if they are called upon. Since this is not the most glamorous of jobs, many of them just go through the motions. But not all.

Last week after the train had just left the station in Utrecht there came an announcement of one of them, saying he was going through the train, selling freshly brewed coffee and tea and having a special sale if you bought a coffee and a candy bar. Many raised their eyebrows or snickered at this announcement, but after a while he entered the wagon, said the same thing and while walking through asked every single person in that wagon if there was something he could get them. He looked as if he really enjoyed the work and with his demeanor, which was so different from what people are used to, made 4-5 sales in my wagon alone (with other vendors there may be one or two; usually none).

He didn’t have a better product than the other vendors, but since his approach was so different, his success rate was much higher. This just show that it helps if you know how to make the sale.

You hear and read about these kind of stories all the time: people who from one day to another make the decision to go about their life completely different. Some quit their jobs and move to a third world country to do charity work. Others break off a relationship because they’re not happy with where they are and go at it alone. And then there are the ones who go from a life of eating way to much unhealthy food and become fitness and diet fanatics.

Last friday I talked with one of the instructors at my gym. Let’s just say we’ve been aware of each others existence for about 20 years. She’s a couple of years younger than I am, we went to the same school and she was friends with a younger sister of a friend of mine. And she used to be a bit on the plumb side. So I was kind of amazed that when I started at the gym a couple of years ago that she was there as an instructor and she looked everything the part. Last friday she told me that what changed her way of life was the time she came out of the shower, saw her reflection in the mirror and didn’t like what she saw at all. She made the decision then and there to change her life and live healthier and certainly more active (I’ve seen her after 3 hours of teaching aerobics, bodypump and spinning classes and she didn’t look a bit winded) then she had done. I had the same kind of thing when I saw my reflection in the mirror at one time and what started me to look at my eating and exercising habits (the former was poor, the latter almost none-existent) and make changes to that.

But what I quickly realized was that seeing that reflection was just a trigger for the change. You can even call it the final drop. And I think that it just doesn’t apply to only my change as it applies to every life change that everyone ever has. The fact of the matter is this: every person has a point of no return where they say “Enough is enough”. You’ve already been unhappy with the way things were (in hind side when you look back you realize that) and it’s the final straw. Whether that’s with the way you look, your job or your relationship, there comes a point where you realize that you’ve reached the limit and you can’t take it anymore. That you just need to make a change. And that trigger can be anything.

For me and her it was the reflection in the mirror. For others it’s the email from their boss that makes them change jobs. An article you read. Or a book. A documentary you see. Whatever it is, rest assured that it’s the final step in a process that you’ve started some time ago. The process of getting into that big life change without you even realizing it.