Every day I take the subway to and from work and can’t help but think how that time could be better spent. Some people are browsing through photos, others are playing games, while others are just staring off into space listening to their headphones, while the last few are just asleep. All these are individual actions and can be done at any time but the subway is a forced melting pot and feels like a missed opportunity.

What if instead of being in their own world everyone decided to turn it into some sort of social event - imagine meeting someone who can help professionally, listening to someone explain a complex topic, or if you’re lucky and willing to risk it - participating in a civil debate. There are dozens of ways to leverage a couple of dozen people stuck in the same enclosed area for 30 minutes. Instead we’re all spending our time doing things that can be done when we’re home alone.

We’ll see if I have the courage to actually try to do something like this. It’s something that will likely go horribly wrong but the upside seems worth it.