Mechanized World as the World

¶ … Mechanized World As the world is getting smaller and smaller each day, people have become more of a commuter than a pedestrian. With man's fast paced lifestyle people from all over the globe have been very dependent on different means of transportation whether your driving your way to work or taking a trip abroad across international seas. One could only wonder what life could have been without these mechanized utilities that man employs to transport himself from one place to the other in a matter of days, hours, minutes.

Futuristic movies of the 20th century even depict an instant transport from a place, space or from a time dimension to another in just one blink of an eye. Truly the era of a long walk along the countryside as the basic means of travel have been long surpassed by bullet trains, low fast cars and airplanes. It is in this era where travel has its own facet and space while traversing the phases of speed and time.

Driving a car or taking any means of public transport like the train or a bus is in itself a different experience. Each of these represents two different occurrences that are in the inner perception of any traveler. In going to work or taking an inter-city trip in a car gives the driver a feeling of privacy. Either traveling alone or with a companion, driving endows unto the driver that sense of control. He is the master of his own world while his vehicle is in motion.

He can very well dictate the speed and what route he has to take. Hence, this kind of traveler, the driver, is completely responsible on all of his actions and decisions. The time of travel, the space and distance that he has to cover is his choice. Riding a train or a bus affects a regular commuter in a very different manner compared to a driving traveler. Upon entering the doors of a train, a regular commuter can have this feeling of entering another dimension of time and space.

Time in a train is programmed and much predictable than driving your car. Here you can either relax while time passes or be at the mercy of boredom despite the fact that the train is already covering miles and miles of distance. Meanwhile you are discretely observing the other actions of your fellow traveler. The train has been a convergence of all known social and emotional actions of the commuting traveler. Here privacy is deficient because everything is in the public eye. Some would resort to read the morning paper.

Others would try to huddle up and think of a topic for some chit chat. Others would try to amuse themselves in watching all of the other activities that was just mentioned. These things are quite typical to a commuting traveler. Nevertheless, both travelers have opted to take this means of transport in order to cover more space and distance in a much lesser time as possible. Time and space have always been the center of concern of all travelers.

Ever since the invention of the train in the early 19th century up to the manufacturing of Fords Model T. cars in the 20th century, man has always been in a hurry to cover more distance and save more time. This allowed man to populate different areas without even minding the distance from his daily destination, either work or leisure.

Suburbs were developed, far flanged areas were reached, industries flourished in and out of the cities, the economy reached new heights among other improvement and speed was the primary ingredient for all of these developments. Trains cars and other vehicles of transport became a practical means of living, studying, and working, at times, the site of urban behaviours and could be observed as an effect for the speedily modernising city itself.

The impact of this sense of dependence of man towards his traveling machine has completely altered his perception about its real use and advantage. Traveling in trains, cars or any other means of transport has become more of a necessity than leisure. Gone were the days when traveling was fun and informative.

Having time to glance and watch all of the things that a traveler notices while in motion, the beautiful places a traveler pass by while riding on a horse or a carriage and the enjoyment of traveling without the pressure of having to reach a certain destination on a scheduled time. It has kept the mind and perception of the riding public and travel idle and stagnant while in motion. Some travelers prefer to sleep because nothing will add anything to their interest and amusement while in a moving train.

The notion that this machines will take them faster to their place of destination have blinded them from reality. Just imagine the time a driver spends in New York traffic when you could have gone to your destination if you have walked instead, the time that a student spends in waiting for the bus to arrive when you could have already walked your.