"The Mid-Life Crisis"

This character tends to be one of the funnier people you see on the mass transit system. Yes, The Mid-Life Crisis seems to still be clinging to youth in any way they know how. The problem is, they typically stand out like a sore thumb in the process.

"The Plague"

With this topic fresh on my mind after sitting next to this type of mass transit rider today, we'll talk about The Plague.

Yes, The Plague, outside of medieval Europe, the only place that sees a worse case of the plague is the mass transit system. You've seen this person. They're the person who literally looks terrible. They have absolutely no right even going to work that day, but this champion soldiers on and infects everyone else in the process.

"The Sleeper"

What's that two rows up? Is that person dead? No, they're not dead, they're just dead tired.

You've seen this person, they typically are out cold with their face planted firmly against the train window. You would think they're dead, because who in their right mind would want to put their face on a train window? Then suddenly, they move slightly and your fears are squashed.

"The Track Star"

You've undoubtedly seen this mass transit rider, albeit for a brief second, as they are essentially the working man's Usain Bolt. No matter what time it is, this person is always in an all out sprint to the station and the platform. While we all may hustle from time to time because we're running late, this person runs even in they're early.

"The Time Warp"

Welcome to mass transportation, where it's 1970 every day. Yes, you feel like you just walked into one of those decade themed restaurants that fails after a year once the novelty wears off, except Nifty Fifty's, they're great. On board the train, regardless of which one you're taking in this area, it can be almost guaranteed the decor has not been updated since 1973 at the latest.

"The Early Riser"

I've seen this mostly on regional rail, but I know this is an occurrence on PATCO too. You're sitting there catching up on Twitter, or possibly reading a book (I think people still do this) when you think that your stop has already approached. This is due to the fact that there are now no less than 10 people standing in the aisle. But wait, it's 7:44 and the next stop isn't until 7:51.

"The Resident DJ"

We all know this person. Yes, they're sitting at the complete opposite end of the train or bus, but you can hear every lyric and note to the song from their headphones. This person listens to music at a volume most of us didn't know existed. You imagine they must feel like they're standing next to the speakers at a Van Halen concert with how high that volume is.

"The Concert Crowd"

Ah, the weather is warming, birds are chirping, love is in the air (as well as the odor of public transportation). Yes, it could only be one thing, concert season! As a flood of entertainers make stops on their tours at the Susquehanna Bank Center and other local venues, they bring with them a host of characters aboard the mass transit system.

"The Seat Hog Part 2"

In the second edition of PATCO Ponderings, we're going to pick right up where we left off in yesterday's first edition, the seat hog. You may be thinking, "wow, you're already out of ideas for this section?" I assure, we are not, but as you've most likely experienced, the Seat Hog comes in many forms. So, here we go.

Welcome to the newest random section to hit the Broad Street Beat, "PATCO Ponderings." In this odd, useless section, that mostly takes up space, we'll point out random observations from our daily commute to work. So here we go with round one.