This has nothing to do with Internet Marketing.
Cats – Have you ever noticed the perception level of some cats? When I was little we had a cat named Penny. Whenever my mother was away from home, with or without the kids, and my dad was at home, he always knew when she was about to come home. Three minutes before her car pulled up the driveway, Penny would always walk out to the front of the porch and wait for her. Every time, three minutes before, like clockwork. My mom’s cat did the same thing when she was young. When her father was about to come home, the cat would go out to the front of the house and wait, till his car pulled into the drive.
Trains – Technology or no technology, I personally don’t believe there will ever really be a replacement for trains. Europe, India, and China are three places that have extensive and efficient railway networks throughout the country. America does not, but the fact is, I hope that will change.
To travel by train in an area with a well-developed network, you don’t need a car, you don’t need to plan far in advance, and you usually don’t need a reservation. You can plan to leave at 8:00 am, wake up at 7:00, hit the snooze button, and catch the 11:00 train instead. You don’t get motion sickness and you aren’t cooped up into a small and stuffy airplane or bus. On long journeys You can get out and get some air while the train makes a 15-minute stop. You can walk up and down the length of the train to stretch your legs, pretending to search for a bathroom. Nothing beats putting your head up into an open train window and watching the scenery fly by. You can sleep comfortably and inexpensively on an overnight train. You can get off two stops early if you realize that’s the town with the great restaurant. When you have a train pass, you can turn around and go the other direction when the weather changes.
Food – My father told me that when he was young, around the 1950′s, one day his friends mentioned to him that they were going out to a special restaurant, to try out an interesting and novel type of food. It was called “pizza.”
Very interesting thoughts, I also have two cats and sometimes I think they understood my every word and speak in their own special language. On the train I do not like to travel, prefer a car. But I like pizza, do not understand how people lived and did not know about pizza.
I understand. Cars have their benefits. However, using a car requires having a car, getting a license, etc. One has to either rent a car, pay a large price, or take on a monthly burden of a car loan.
In America where people are so dependent on cars this might seem normal. However in areas with developed transportation systems, it is not. Anyone at any age can travel wide and freely by train, with or without advanced planning and often at little expense, without the necessity of going to driving school, acquiring a license, or paying large expenses. Additionally there is the factor of pollution where the environmental impact caused by the use of cars can’t be compared to that of trains – particularly modern electric trains.
Its interesting to see how Americans have become so accustomed to a dependency on automobiles. It is one thing I hope to see changing in the future.
Hi Anna,
Those are some cool thoughts. I really didn’t know that about trains in other countries. How much more developed it was compared to the US and Canada.
I had some very cool cats over the years myself. Gotta love their independence.
Thanx for the interesting post Anna.
Davin
Davins last blog post..Satan – Viral Marketing From The Planet’s Most Devious
Thanks Davin. Well, I don’t know where that came from. Just thoughts I had that I felt like throwing up there somewhere. Its funny, I had actually forgotten how much North-Americans are used to this whole “cars are everything” system. Trains have been such a way of life for me that it began to slip my mind, that it is actually not a native concept around here. No wonder! I suppose if every American spent a few years in a country with developed transportation lines, our old railways would be up and running again in no time, and expanding at that. Its odd to try to explain to a European that in the US, even the National Parks can’t be reached by regular train lines.