Spectator Sport: The BTS station

            It is on evening time and the skies are getting gloomier. I walk up the flight of stairs. The air is full of pollution from the sea of cars and their strident honks from the heavy traffic full of people eager to go to places. The footpath is full of street food that produces different odors-oil from frying, grilling, or the smell of noodles being cooked. People are standing on the footpath, holding out boxes filled with coins. Some are handicapped or poor, performing their multifarious talents for people to see. There are also people handing out colorful and flamboyant papers full of advertisements  that when people receive, is thrown on the ground. It is getting darker and darker and lots of people rush up the stairs to go home.

            The commotion caused by people on the platform is really loud and disturbing. People prepare the coins or exchange for coins in order to fill in the ticket vending machine. I can see lots of people gathering around each machine and lining up. The line is so long that it can be seen as a commotion of people. I, then, walk to the checkpoint where we insert our tickets. The line is as well, really long and people rush to get in the platform. Next to me is a foreigner who seems unacquainted with the tickets. She says, “how do you put this?” But people around did not understand her, but they inserted the ticket for her. After crossing into the checkpoint, I then proceed up the escalators. I quickly get in line to go up the escalator. The escalator is so packed, there is hardly any room for my body to move and with so many people, I have the feeling it is precarious. I notice how dark it is outside the station, the only lights that could be seen come from the station and some shopping malls nearby and as I looked at the time, I thought, "oh, it is getting late, I better hurry.”

As the escalator reached the platform, people start to scatter around the station to different platforms, according to their destination. I keep right and wait in line to get into the train.  There are lots of people lining up in order, keeping left or right and leaving the space in the middle for passengers inside the train to come out. I keep on walking to the middle of the platform, since it is the place where there is the least number of people in line. I stand there waiting for the train. More and more people come to the lines. I notice the people who are waiting in line, there is a person on a wheelchair, with a security guard pushing him, there are students in uniforms, workers, and many more people from different backgrounds. Then, it suddenly feels as if someone has turned off the light. I turn my head around and see that the train has finally arrived. It’s loud noise of its contact to the wind tells us it has arrived. The speaker with a woman’s sound says, “Attention, please move inside the train...” The door opens and lots of people walk out of the train. Then, we step in the train, the door closes, and the train departs the station.

I got this from here

I got this from here