wait, you mean I really am trapped in side the belly of a corporation...

Sometimes it astonishes me how long I can take to put two and two together. Lately, I have taken to riding the bus on the rare occasion that I have to go to campus, which is usually to teach my bizzarely scheduled 5:30 - 6:45pm composition class. Each time, two things inevitably catch my attention. The first of these happens when I'm at the stop and the bus comes into view. I become extremely agitated at the mural-sized ads that have suddenly appeared on its sides. The most common one is a Sprint ad for a deluxe package that includes cable, internet, and phone. To demonstrate this, the ad features giant, futuristically dressed people holding devices that relate to these services. I get especially ticked-off at the man aiming a remote control the size of a microwave in my direction. Every time I see this ad I'm reminded of how much I prefer the old Madison Metro colors which were pleasingly municipal and a constant reminder that the high taxes payed by Wisconsin residents, who are not myself, are going to a good cause - the cause of carting my state-dependent ass around town. The other annoyance occurs while on the bus. In past experience, I took great pleasure in gazing out the greasy windows onto the general freakiness that makes up the city of Madison. But lately, my vision has been rudely obscured by some strange sheet of metal mesh that now covers the whole window. In my absent-mindedness, I would begin to wonder what possible purpose this sheet of metal could serve. At first I thought, as is my habit, that its purpose must somehow be to benefit myself. So I began to think about how it is probably intended to better regulate the temperatures on the bus, which, depending on the season, can range between frigid and over-heated. I had these thoughts, not just once, but many times, until one day the upsetting truth, like one of our careful bus drivers, came to an abrupt stop within a hair's breadth of my face: these two separate observations, which in my mind were entirely separate phenomena, were one and the same. Yes, as I'm sure you've already guessed by now, the mesh is the medium for one messed-up marketing campaign. Not only has the Madison Metro system sullied our city with enormous in-your-face ads, but it has literally hindered my view of the city in the process. To even see the city, I now have to peer through the itty-bitty holes of a corporate promotion. As I write this, the metaphorical potential of this experience is beginning to set in. Anyway, irateness aside, it turns out that I'm so unsuspecting as a person in general, that this betrayal did not occur to me until just the other day, having ridden the bus under these worsened conditions for several weeks at least.