Public Transportation and More

Well, I have begun the second week of work in the office. (third week counting training). It is still quite enjoyable. I know I have shared a lot about what I am doing and about some of the stories that I am learning, but I thought i would take a different approach today.

I have been riding the train into the city each day (as you know)... And I absolutely love it. I have realized that one minor aspect of not ever living in a big city is not having been able to enjoy the pleasures of public transportation. For those of you who may have a similar experience as i have for most of my life, wondering what i could be getting at, with no other preconceptions of public transportation than an inconvenient, crowded, dirty, means of transportation, i thought i would give some insight as to how it is so much different. Everyday, i get on the same train (the 8:16 am train from Guilford, CT to New Haven - State Street stop) and ride either the 5:04 train or the 5:39 train (depending on when we finish work. Not only myself, but a lot of people have the same routine (either going to, fro, or both). This makes me able to see anywhere from 10-20 people, whom i would normally otherwise never see in my life, and have 5-20 minute conversations with them to get to know them. It is quite enriching! For example, there is this woman named Carol (spelling?) who gets off the same train as I do going to work. She works at Yale Medical School. There have been three out of the 5 days that i have ridden the train total, that I have walked next to her for the 4-5 blocks from the train station to my office building. This accounts for anywhere from 8-12 minutes depending on traffic and such. Thus, i have been able to spend anywhere from 24-36 minutes (or about a half hour) with Carol in getting to know her. The first day it was simple talk about weather and traffic, not even exchanging names. The second, we noticed the similar routine and exchanged names, occupations/current employment, and a few other things. Today, I saw her again and was able to talk to her more about where I am from and what exactly she does. In case this doesn't point clearly enough to my point, i love public transportation. I am able to meet people that i wouldn't normally get to meet and be able to soak in a little bit of their perspective in the world (because I feel like everyone we come into contact helps shape our perspective whether we notice it or not).

Today, I also met a client (person who came into NSP for help in one of our various services) whose name i cannot disclose for confidentiality reasons. But, he was in his early fifties. Living with a woman whom he referred to as his wife several times (due to the longevity of their relationship being over a decade long and reasonably so), he has been looking for a place to stay for a little over a month. He and his significant other (from now on out to be referred to as "his wife" for convenience sake) were living in a small one-bedroom apartment where they shared a bathroom with the people next door. (the housing situation was a little unclear). But when the person next door invited many friends to come live with them, it forced them to have to wait several hours to use the only bathroom to get ready for the day. This man, who had been in a car accident over 5 years back has been unable to work since then because his leg was literally wrapped around his neck from the accident and forced to a long time of rehab. He has fought to be able to walk with a cane and is doing pretty well, but is forced to live off of social security and SSDI (a federal cash assistance available to people with long-term disabilities). He makes no more than $800 dollars a month, and while that is more than a lot of people, it is still not much when he is not living in either section 8 housing or subsidized. (Section 8 is basically a voucher for any apartment and subsidized housing places are particular housing apartment complexes set up for people to pay 1/3 of their income or assistance). Anyways, it is clear that this guy is in a rough spot and after not knowing what he could do, he came to us today. Not only this, but his wife is in desperate need of surgery for something, which without it she could die at any point if something goes wrong. I spent an hour talking to him and hearing his story. Of all the places that he worked and of his current situation. What was extremely amazing to me is that after only spending an hour talking to him today (while also going over forms) he called me
to tell me that his wife has been approved for surgery by (according to him) one of the top ten surgeons in the world. He sounded very ecstatic and he ended the phone call by saying, "I just thought I would call you and let you know the good news." It was amazing to me that he felt like I care enough that he would call me and tell me that. Anyways, that is my story for now. I hope this gives you insight as to what exactly is going on...