Sweaty train ride

Whoo. This past afternoon seemed more brutal than usual. It may not have been the hottest one out there, but the heat in the station seemed more stifling than I’ve noticed over the past weeks. As I waited for the train, I noticed people on both platforms wiping sweat off their brows, fanning themselves with folded sheets of paper or newspapers, and looking mildly dishevelled from the heat. I thought I’d get some relief when I got on the subway car, but I had the misfortune of ending up on one that wasn’t air conditioned. At least, it seemed like it wasn’t–I sure didn’t feel any relief. That, coupled with the fact that the train was more packed than usual made for a rather miserable ride. I had my eyes closed for most of the ride as I usually do, but I couldn’t full-on nap because every minute I was wiping dripping sweat from my face. At one point, this woman sat next to me and started fanning herself. Some of the breeze was hitting me, and I was thankful. When she stopped, I was sort of mentally willing her to just continue fanning herself so I could benefit.

When I got to my station, I stepped off the train expecting the humidity to be rotten, but seeing as how Warden is open air, the temperature there was so much cooler. I looked around and saw the relief on people’s faces when they got off that thing. Seriously, it’s no wonder there have been a number of heat-related incidents on the TTC as of late.

It made me think of my short time in Tokyo. Out on the streets around Akihabara, there are always lots of people giving away advertising freebies. Some of them gave away these plastic fans that were covered in advertisements for electronics. Despite becoming a walking advertisement, the fans were just so damn useful in keeping cool that I really didn’t care if I used them. Here in Toronto, I kind of wish there were some free fans given away on hot days like this. Maybe I should walk around Chinatown a little bit one of these days, buy a small manly fan and stuff it in my bag. That way I could just whip it out when I get all sweaty on a hot car. Though…you don’t really see that on the trains, do you? Trendsetter?

Uh…maybe I’d rather just sweat it out.

Possibly related posts:

1. Train cramming
2. Ride to church
3. Hot and sweaty