Life, 1918-06-13 · page 8 of 36
Life — June 13, 1918 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical poem mocks the daily frustrations of commuters (likely from Long Island or similar suburbs into New York City). The verses humorously detail: - Rushing to catch early trains while sacrificing personal grooming - The tedium of commutation tickets punched repeatedly yearly - The social hierarchy of train cars, with smoking cars preferred to escape women's conversation - Missing dinners and leaving wives to manage burnt food - The moral compromises of suburban commuting The accompanying small illustrations show domestic chaos—rushed mornings, neglected families, harried travelers. The larger right-side cartoon depicts an idealized aviator, with the caption "At Least This Part of the Aviation Program Has Flown"—suggesting aviation offers escape from commuter drudgery. The era appears to be post-WWI, when aviation symbolized modernity and freedom.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
04 ‘LIFE a The Rubaiyat of a Commuter AKE, © commuter, for the sun again Hath tapped his finger on the window pane. I bid you hasten with your shave, unless You wish to lose your customary train. Lo! some there be can smoke a sweet cigar Before they leave the house. But we live far From depot and from trolley. Hasten, then, For 8:13 must find us in the car. Whether from Rockaway or Babylon, Whether from Kew or Oyster Bay we run, The commutation ticket must be punched Six hundred times in every year, my son. Better, I hold, from Hempstead to commute And travel the whole gamut of the route— That gives a man an inside seat, at least, And time to read the newspaper to boot. Above all else, hold fast the smoking car, For up ahead is where the women are— And though I am an easy-going man, Yet woman-talk is something I debar. Better the man who talks about the war, Better the tennis, golf or motor bore, Than sit among the girls and overhear The details of what Rose and Ethel wore. In winter time ‘tis well to keep a pack Of cards about your person. I look back On one long night we spent at Floral Park “ AT LEAST THIS PART OF THE AVIATION With snowdrifts ten feet deep along the track. PROGRAM HAS FLOW (eC vepe canon —— One other thing you must take care to learn: To catch the morning train's your own con- cern; But miss at night, you must placate your wife— The dinner’s on the stove, and it will burn! Commuters go to Paradise, they say, For all the sins they do cannot outweigh The little inconveniences they bear— At least, that’s true out our Long Island way! So when I dic, as peaceful as a lamb, Inter me near the station, where | am Just close enough to see the 8:13 Pull out . . . and smile, and never give a damn! Cx Christopher Morley. GRIN AND BARE IT