Observations of the Mundane Kind, Part I

This morning while riding the metro to work I sat next to a woman reading a rather thick looking piece of literature. In my hands was a copy of recently deceased theologian Jaroslav Pelikan's brief Whose Bible Is It? A History of the Scriptures through the Ages, a rather brief but engaging overview of how the Bible came to be. The situation I found myself in, by sitting next to this woman with a big book, thrust me into a ponderous mood regarding the navigation of Metro culture. I believe riding the metro requires a certain adherence to unspoken set of rules and manners that should be observed as strictly as possible. Here I will be writing about two. The first concerns material to be read while riding. They include newspapers, periodicals, mass market paperbacks (of any size), memos from work (on a limited basis), bestsellers (paperback or hardback), classics (preferably in paperback and published by Penguin Press) textbooks that do not involve problem solving, religious or spiritual texts (Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita). Non-bestselling hardbacks should be easy to manage within tight spaces, such as mine was, as well as somewhat easy reading. However, the woman sitting next to me was reading something that was very thick and cumbersome, causing distraction when she turned the pages. The size and shape of it was like a chemistry or math text, which would have required difficult problem solving, thus eliminating it from metro reading.

Having described situation number 1, that I was within my reading rights on the Metro and the woman was stretching the boundaries, I proceeded to breach a second rule. I consciously looked at what she was reading. For what seemed like two minutes (between DuPont and Farragut North) I stared at her text, scanning deliriously to try to find a title or chapter heading. Though there are times when you can "accidentally" catch sight of what a person is reading, I was blatantly violating the no look rule. But I am glad I did. The heading I saw read Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin. Now why is this so special that it should be a cause for a reflection? Remember, I was reading a book about the history of the Bible. And here was a text about evolution. The juxtaposition was such that I wished all in the car were violating the no look rule. Also, I'm from Kansas, which made the situation even more worth the effort of deep intellectual musings. The clash of cultures occuring on the Red Line this morning was the proverbial microcosmic glimpse of our broader society, demonstrating how the two could actually ride side by side without creating controversy (maybe this was a result of her not violating the no look rule). Perhaps us two could have been the punchline to a New Yorker cartoon or an editorial, who knows?