Monday Morning On the train

Day 27

I have never gotten used to the amount of religion I run into in this town. The religion is everywhere, not necessarily in your face religion like the pious residents who are trying to get you under the water baptized—although there is that too you just have to be careful of where you go or who you speak with. I am speaking to a much more subtle approach to letting the world know that you are one of them and proud to BE one of them. Until Trax the most obvious a person could be was to wear some form of BYU propaganda i.e. sweat shirt, base ball cap, or, some other BYU product line.

The “mormon ghanda approach is quietly sitting or standing on the Trax reading your scripture. Now, I don’t know if it’s mandatory to read the Book of Mormon or would one of the three other standards count as much? Now I think of it many of the readers are reading from their Quad or Triple Combination. I have not seen any one just reading from the Bible. I think it would be way cool if the Born Agains would start a major campaign to read their bibles on the train, and the Jehovah Witnesses could read their Watch Tower the train. The could rage against the page and turn there pages just as loud as the could making sure they are being attended too.

I am sure it is just me. I am probably being threatened by these Book of Mormon readers. These folks who are silently loving me back into the “fold”, These folks want me back and will read their brains out to bring this about. I silently watch them, head down mouthing the words as they plow through “Helaman, Alma or Nephi” or some other Book of Mormon” book. I think to myself ‘ I could bring my own trusty triple combination and look like “them”. In fact if I were to bring my own scripture and have them open and my head down and my mouth moving I would effectively be invisible. I could move this a step further and start asking the pious questions,. like a “pop quiz”. If I were to do the pop quiz trick enough times these guys would hide their “sticks” all the way to the bottom of their briefcases bringing out their books only behind the safe closed doors of their bathroom stalls.

You know I guess I am just way too cynical. I should give these readers the benefit of the doubt. I should be open to the fact that the population can be very uptight and stressed out and possibly dangerous. Maybe the scriptural reading is a safety value, a pressure release which allows these folks to make it through another day.

I am including a couple of other images I took on the train this morning. I was having a blast. I have figured away to turn off the flash mechanism and then folks cannot see that I am taking their pics. I did notice a train cop at the far end of the train scowling at me or it could have been my guilty conscience.