dart train diaries

tales of tragedy, triumph, and tranquility from the dart train

date observed: 2023-07-27

observation 1 “who would do that, unless you got a psychological problem?” said some guy in the front row of the car, to someone who wasn't there.

observation 2 some guy was watching youtube videos on his phone. one of the thumbnails for a recommended video read: “demons would hate you to watch this!”

i wonder what his viewing history is like.

observation 3 some shirtless guy wearing a dr. suess cat-in-the-hat hat kept walking in a block around the station platform.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

date observed: 2023-07-26

chalk writing that says "gonorrhea and david dylan were here"


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

after i got off the train, i crossed the street beside a guy asking for some help. he told me that earlier in the morning he'd gotten the best head of his life and he went out the door without his cigarettes, his keys, all his most important stuff.

at least that's what i think he said. i had a hard time hearing him over the noise from the nearby construction. so maybe my story's all wrong. but i'm choosing to believe it anyway.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

passed a freight train on which someone had written in chalk:

sorry belle i tried to warn you

and now i can't help wondering what happened to belle.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

some guy asked if i smoke.

“nah.”

“never?”

“never.”

he then went on to preach to me, a nearly forty-year-old man, about avoiding peer pressure. later we got on the same car and i watched as he did pull-ups on the bicycle rack.

oh the people you'll meet on the dart.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

monday, 06.12.2023

as i was getting off the train, some other guy was getting on. he put one foot on the steps and then pointed his thumb at himself as if it were a microphone, sang a couple lines, and then got on the train.

tuesday, 06.13.2023

saw a handcuffed woman up against the back of a police car. guess i came up at the right time.

wednesday, 06.14.2023

a rare quiet day on the dart.

thursday, 06.15.2023

am – “ho-ass, dick-sucking bitch,” some guy yelled, i assumed, at a woman sitting only a few feet away. but when i passed that same woman, she looked up at me and said, “is he talking shit to you?”

hell, maybe he was. i just wanna know what information he based his assessment on.

pm – some guy carried a lime bike onto the dart train. i couldn't help wondering where he was going and what he planned on doing with it. he was talking to some lady who got on the train along with him.

at some point he says he's considering whether to “turn himself in.” the lady is talking to him about choices we make the decisions god makes for us. she asks about his mother and he ends up giving her his mother's number. and the lady promises to call his mother and update her on his status later.

the woman gets off at my stop. she rises from her seat, hugs the young man, and tells him he's one of her babies too.

this unexpected beautiful moment on the dart took place during the middle of a moment i've come to expect from public transportation.

i hear some kind of cry from the car behind me. but it's hard to tell whether it was a cry of distress or play.

a few seconds later, a guy comes from that car and sits near me. soon after, a woman cracked out of her mind comes into my car. the other guy quickly returns to the car behind. the woman is holding onto the pole in front of my seat and she's having trouble standing straight as the train sways her back and forth. “stop that,” she says after turning to me. i can only assume that she thought i had bumped her and made her sway. “i didn't do anything,” i said, immediately realizing i should have said nothing. luckily she didn't respond.

then she went back to the car behind mine and raised her fists at the other guy who had run away from her earlier.

what a strange mix on the train today.

friday, 06.16.2023

a homeless-looking lady got on the train with her puppy. the puppy jumps into the seat next to her and curls up. i got all sappy when she covered him up with her coat.

it made me think about the story of that animal rights group that stole a homeless man's dog.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

monday, 06.05.2023

pm – some tweaker got off at my station, holding a turtle in one hand like it was a god damn hamburger.

tuesday, 06.06.2023

am – a non-english speaker used his phone to translate a question to me and then translate my response back to him. great use of modern technology i'd never before experienced.

when i got off the train i saw some guy who looked rough and dirty, smoking a cigarillo.

his shirt said:

looking for a job?

call us today!

. . . followed by a dallas phone number.

is this some form of guerrilla marketing?

wednesday, 06.07.2023

ami'm sick, someone had spray painted on the columns of an overpass i saw from my window seat.

police tape wrapped around a space lined with trees at my stop. comforting.

thursday, 06.08.2023

nothing to report

friday, 06.09.2023

am – guy sitting in front of me appeared to be nodding off. that's fine—they're harmless while they sleep.

pm – someone thought it was a great idea to smoke a cigarette on the train.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

5.29.2023 monday

no work due to holiday. no dart train drama.

5.30.2023 tuesday

nothing to report. both relieved and disappointed.

5.31.2023 wednesday

a kiosk at my station was blaring some kind of warning siren. what does it mean? oh the mysteries of the dart train . . .

6.1.2023 thursday

i saw more businesspeople during morning rush hour.

note to self: this is one time you might be better off leaving later for work.

6.2.2023 friday

found a random key in the park and ride lot. unsure how to get it back to its owner. might try reddit.

p.s. that note about leaving later in the mornings for the business crowd was stupid. i got lucky thursday morning. sometimes you just gotta take your victories as they come.

in the afternoon, some wild-eyed guy was walking by my station. he appeared to be arguing with someone no one else could see. another man, not paying attention, walked in front of the wild-eyed guy a little too closely.

his apology did no good. wild eyes started yelling at the guy, threatening to fight him, saying he didn't like being followed and messed with. this was when i realized standing up against a building might not be the best idea, so i walked over to a wider open area while being sure not to look at ole wild eyes.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

am

today's operator had a heavy foot. heavy on the gas. and then heavy on the brake.

yes, i know trains don't operate with gas and brake pedals. but go with the metaphor.

because that's how this guy (or gal) operated this morning. like a brand new driver.

i had brought my laptop so i could make the most of my commute and write. but being jarred out of what i was concentrating on was making me sick. so i just sat there, meditating on the vision of not blowing chunks.

good thing i hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

pm

the dart train is a great place to toke up, thought some asshole(s) in an adjacent car.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

am

according to the recording that played in my train car this morning, they're called “fare inspectors,” not “dart police.”

we at dart train diaries deeply regret this error and will be sure to use the proper name in the future.

pm

some guy needed to show what a badass he was so he tried to kick a styrofoam cup across the track. the cup floated in the air and landed a foot in front of him.

all that energy exerted. for nothing.


adventures like these can be yours. ride the dart

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