We dont even compare to places like central america & asia where train surfing is the norm. Those people ride openly on the front of units, stradling knuckles & other insane shit, with nothing but maybe a plastic bag; all the while fighting for their stuff & spot on their train.
We have embraced the culture but will never experience true poverty & desperation here in the US/CA. We have chosen living this anti civ lifestyle so please dont forget this. Even our poorest, unpriveledged people had oppertunities of an education, shitty jobs, clean water & lots of gov sponsored programs from ebt, to ssi/ssdi, tafdc, student loans, housing & the list goes on. We have everything where as these poor people would sell their soul to come live off the scraps of the American dream.
Keep it in perspective kids. We can ride often with a whole train to ourselves because of the insane consumer appetite of the majority. I feel privledged because i am. I have made all my own bad choices, but that down mean i cant turn it all around.
This may be veering into off topic but think we need to remind ourselves sometimes.
We ride with dogs, others elsewhere would have eaten those dogs.