alll aboaaaarrrrrrd

I love riding the train to the city

     I am serious.  It is stress free, cheaper, and provides a look at people you don't normally see.
     But it can cause a little embarrassment.
     I was on the platform waiting for the train Thursday when a lady said hello and smiled.  I said hello back, just being polite.  Then she started a conversation and I realized I knew this person!  But they had on sunglasses and a head wrap, so I could not see their entire face, but I knew I knew them.
     Turned out it was Rev. Stacy from church, whom I have known for at least six years.  I tell ya, if it's out of context, I have a problem.
     I sat down on the train,  and a man sat two seats ahead of me.  I noticed his smell right away.
     It wasn't a body smell, it was a cigarette smell.  This guy must have smoked 10 packs a day in a closed space.
     I didn't know whether to congratulate him for helping prop up the state government by paying a lot of tax money, or tell him about my cousin who was a life long smoker and eventually died because of lung cancer.
     So, I moved to another seat.
     I also watch people..... not that I am a degenerate creep or anything, but I enjoy watching people.  (Beth, no comment.  You either, Carrie.)
     One man had a hand made sign sewed on the back of his coat that said "Don't ask, Google it."   I was going to ask him what it meant, but decided not to, obviously missing the irony of the situation.
     A woman sat next to me on the way home.  She had two cell phones, a lap top, two leather bags and a stack of spiralled objects that looked like reports or student projects.  Plus she had a three inch binder.  I don't know what her job is, but she had a lot of homework.
     Another lady had a laptop out and was reading some papers.  She compared the papers with whatever was on the screen, tapping on each word on the papers while she checked the laptop screen.  She may have been proofreading a report, a novel, or a brief.  She was focused. I don't think she was counting words on the printed page, but she could have been.
     And leather messenger bags.  Everyone on the ride home at at least one well worn one.  Some people had two bags and a backpack!
     I always fantasize about their jobs.  Maybe a criminal defense attorney working on a way to get a client off.  Or a forensic accountant trying to put a politician in jail.  Maybe a college professor.  Or a student.
     Watching all the work they put into work made me tired and happy that I am no longer part of that stream, and never was a part of their stream.
     I often look at the waves of people getting on and off and wonder if they are happy in their lives.
     Because I am.  And I do love riding the train.  No messenger bag needed.