Just. Me, A Mask, And Empty Train Car...And An Unseen Enemy

I anticipated a lonely ride.

Even though things in my state have somewhat opened up in some areas, many people don't like the thought of traveling in a closed train car (I guess the open-air train cars are not really around anymore...) with covid seemingly around every corner.

So, when I boarded the southbound Frontrunner train Tuesday morning to attending a meeting with my supervisor, I didn't expect there to be too many others on the train.

I was right.

In fact, in my particular section of the train, I was all alone.

It wasn't until I was more than halfway into my trip that I realized I had my mask on. Now, I'm not going to debate the effectiveness of masks--there's pros and cons for each side and everyone seems to have an opinion, but I knew if I wanted to take the train, I'd have to wear a mask. Sure, I could have drove, but I didn't, which means = masking up.

I looked around and all the other people not on the train with me and I wondered if I really even needed to have the mask on. I'm sure someone with knowledge of the ventilation systems of the modern Frontrunner train and first-hand knowledge of the transmission methods and effectiveness of said transmission methods of the covid virus would be more qualified than me to definitively determine if I even needed to have that thing on.

Personally, I think there are very few people--if any--who have both those qualifications.

I wondered if I ought to de-mask. I thought about it. Every ten minutes or so a UTA employee would walk past. They did this before masks were required. I'd imagine, that if I had dropped the mask/bandana, he would have asked me to put it back on. And, as I explained earlier, I would have because I already accepted the agreement...must wear a mask to ride.

Since none of us know what's ahead for commuters, UTA employees, basically everyone, there are a lot of questions for us to think about. How long will this go on...another month, a year, forever? I'd like to think we'd be long past this by now, but I keep getting surprised...

Like the time I looked up in an empty train car and remembered I had a mask over my face.