I hate talking on the El... unless it is one of those rare times when you get on an everyone seems to be having a conversation. When everyone (or a majority) is talking it's a little too noisy to ease-drop on one conversation. When no one is talking, I just do not feel right about having a conversation for everyone to listen in on. Everyone is listening, and just waiting to hear something that is so random or backwards that they can write about it on their blog. Uh, like me.
This would not be such an issue, until I am with a group on the train and they notice that I am not being my usual opinionated vocal self so they automatically think there is something wrong (angry, upset, etc.). I will usually just say I am not a big fan of talking on the El (or the bus), but that often does not seem often suffice. Then I'm stuck with the decision to start talking or wait until our stop. I usually wait.
