Kobe train – rush hour crush

We ended up on the metro train at about 5:30, which seemed to be a high capacity time for travel.

When the train arrived it was packed…like not one more person could possible squeeze into the train car packed. Yet the 15 people we were in line with thought otherwise – and we wadded in with them. We crammed into a standing mass of humanity. My body was pressed hard up against four other people – one of them I realized a short time later was completely asleep, his limp body held up by the press of humanity surrounding him.

We made another stop and more people crammed in. One woman’s face was mooshed against one of the windows.

Kaety and I were pressed together with one arm trapped up holding the bar and one arm trapped at our sides. We were laughing at the ludicrous state we were in.

For a culture that doesn’t do public displays of affection I think they were pressure valving that whole state of reserve on their trains. I’m a hugger but I’ve never been in that state of intimate contact with so many strangers before in my life.

The process of getting my phone out of my pocket to snap a photo inadvertently groped at least three people.

Wow.

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