NY/NJ here, but I felt the same way after visiting Tokyo. Another metro system I was really impressed with was Taipei’s; the trains were clean, safe and ran frequently.

It was so depressing coming home to our public transportation, especially because the airport connections are poor and make you cranky immediately after deboarding.

Even with the decreased ridership right now some stations and lines remain congested, and the narrower platforms can feel unsafe when there’s crowding. There’s a persistent stank during this swampy time of year and a layer of dust, skin cells and/or unidentified garbage particles on the tracks that cleaning doesn’t ever really fix. There’s just more vomit and pee to clean in the first place. Okay I’m being a little dramatic but it really do be like that sometimes.

Sure the newest stations are nicer, but the cost and the time it takes is crazy. And it’s impossible to retrofit most of the existing stations with new technology so we’re stuck having to work around this old infrastructure. Meanwhile, there are a lot of neighborhoods that are underserved. At least we finally have contactless readers. The technology has been around for almost two decades but better late than never? Sorry, this is becoming a huge rant but public transportation in the US is such a joke.

Using the “nice” things, especially if they’re tools for hobbies/chores I spend a lot of time doing. I cook a lot, and got myself a nice chef knife a few years ago. It makes prep just a little bit more enjoyable, and I feel like that’s actually added up to quite a bit of happiness over time! I don’t mean to recommend that anyone go ham upgrading everything indiscriminately, and I don’t think a nice thing necessarily has to be the best or most expensive; maybe it’s even something you already own. I’m using the nice dinnerware knowing I will definitely break or chip everything eventually, and I’m wearing the nice clothes until they snag and stain instead of saving them for a moment that might not come.