Report: the Red Line Will Kill You

This special report issued today from the Tribune's "hip" little sister Red Eye about the level of germs and the possibility of catching something from riding public transportation. Yay for the Brown Line, for being cleaner than the Red. Bottom line: don't touch a surface on the bus or train and then eat a finger lickin' good meal from KFC (or anywhere else) without first washing. And if you needed a report to tell you that, you've got bigger problems than catching a cold from the L.

Should this really be a surprise to anyone? I read somewhere recently that a public toilet is cleaner than the NYC subway (and although I wouldn't be surprised, I tend to think that's not quite true). And from personal experience, I can attest that the London Tube is actually Influenza on Rails (I was sick for about 2 straight weeks of the 6 weeks I was there.) But I've always chalked it up to the annoying-yet-acceptable risk of using public transport. The trade-off for the special doses of humanity we get to witness by sharing a seat with people who smell of cheese or Play Doh.

Favorite quote from the article: "I try so hard to keep my hands to myself, but you just can't help grabbing onto the poles..." Yeah, that same issue has got me in trouble before too.