05.02.07 Getting a seat
When the trains in Tokyo
pull into the station, they always stop in exactly the same place; the location
where people should cue up to get into the train is marked on the
platform. Getting a seat is rare, but
when you travel in the opposite direction of most commuters like me, it is not
impossible. If you are at the front of
the line on the platform, you certainly have a chance. So when the train pulls into the station, you
scan the incoming train for vacant seats.
You select your target(s), and although you must wait for the exiting
people, you take the first opportunity to head for the seat as quickly as you
can. Of course the chances are good that
the people that were standing in the train have meanwhile occupied the
seat. They have a clear advantage as
they have a headstart and you will inevitably loose to them. But they other competition comes from the people
entering the train from the next door; they can (and must) be beaten.
Most of the time, of course, you loose, it cannot be
helped. Now I noticed the following
thing about the losers. Anecdotally,
losers behave in the following manner. Upon
noticing that they missed their target seat, the vast majority slow down their
pace to normal speed and continue to walk past the seat (not looking even once
at the person now occupying their seat) in the direction they were heading as
if they had not intended to take the seat at all, but, in fact, had always had
their eye on the spot just a little further down the train, actually.
7:21:35 PM 
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