Bus blurb #1

There are a lot of things to complain about when you consider the public transportation in Chicago, but lack of visual interest is not one of them. No matter what form of transport you choose, you've got layers of advertisements, graffiti, warnings, policies, and maps to look at. I've whiled away entire trips gazing up at those gauche rectangles of brightly colored marketing. Who is this Robert Morris, exactly? He sounds like my next-door neighbor. Why is it that women in equivalent positions still don't make as much men, and why are they making me mad about this on the train? And does anyone actually do those sleep studies offered by Rush University?

Who has not spent a few moments considering who it was that took the time to carve that four-letter word into the window? Or where gangs get those thick markers they use to... claim the sought-after fourth car of red line run 842? (Do they fight over who has to take the pink line, do you think? Why on earth, by the way, did they pick that girl's essay on the pink line to win the "Name the New Line" contest? I heard it. It was not a winner.)

If I'm not too distracted by stuffing coming out of the duct-taped crack in the seat in front of me, I also like to read "The Passenger's Bill of Rights" each time I am in a cab. I find I am always impressed by how much we riders are entitled to. My admiration is always immediately ascribed to Mayor Daley, whose anachronistically young face is conveniently right there on the page waiting for credit.

Well. The situation is much different in Switzerland. You have to look hard to even see that someone wants your attention. Please, sir, if you're not too busy, sir, and you have nothing else to look at, perhaps, maybe you're interested to hear about this new bus route we're starting? Swiss ads whisper where American ads scream and wave their arms.

But what advertisements on Lugano buses lack in quantity, frenzy, and seediness, they make up for with usefulness and tact. Just like the billboards, the bus ads are tastefully sized, no bigger than a sheet of paper. They advertise new bus routes, local festivals, the convenience of public transportation. Useful! But oh so boring.