Meeting On The Train

Train Keeps A Rollin'

A funny little moment happened to me on the way home from work today. I fell asleep on the train (as I often do) and did not awake until we hit the Providence station (the one before my own stop). Still quite groggy, I look around the car to get my bearings.. and caught sight of two women standing on the Outbound platform among a small crowd, out the window next to me.. both looking very obviously my way. Thinking nothing of it, I continue looking around the train car until I was fully conscious.

As one of the conductors walks through the car, I look out the window again.. to find the same two girls still watching me. I smile at them to be friendly (there is glass between us, so a vocal greeting was not going to happen). As I am smiling warmly, one of the women leans forward and looks down the platform to see who I am smiling at. Its around this time that I realize that from the way that I am sitting, the people standing on the opposite platform can see quite a bit of me in the window, including the tattoo that covers my right arm. So, after deciding I wasn't looking at anyone else, the other woman points to herself and gives a "me?" motion. I smile again. The two women talk amongst themselves for a moment and then look up and smile back. One of them then writes down something on the book she is carrying and holds it up..

It is a phone number. As I start to write it down, the train pulls away from the platform. Deciding I'd gotten the number, the woman lowers the book and both of them wave warmly to me.. I happily wave back.. and then they are gone... Its things like this that amaze me. Barely any communication at all, and yet we all clearly had managed to make a connection. Simply amazing.