Train Delay

On the train ride home today, I snagged an empty seat when I got on. Not too surprising; I tend to arrive about ten minutes before it leaves, so I get a window seat.

A few minutes before the train left, a man sat next to me on the bench. Also not surprising; it’s a very crowded train. It skips the first half of the stops, so everyone on the second half of the line gets home much quicker. It also happens to go almost express to my stop. (And I happen to be a very nonthreatening presence who is reading and leaves the outside seat open, so I always have a seat buddy.)

The man pulled off his coat and put it on the rack above before sitting down. He pulled out his laptop bag and opened up his MacBook Air. Clearly, he’s going to be getting some stuff done. No problem.

But then he almost immediately looked around, put his computer away, got up, got his coat, and continued down the train.

Here is my thought process of the following 10 seconds or so:

• Do I smell?
• Maybe he saw that I’m getting off in a zone before his and didn’t want to get up when he was working.
• But why’d he get up now then? What’s the difference?
• Seriously, do I smell?
• Maybe it was the people in front of us who are talking?
• But he’s not headed in the direction of the quiet car. There’s talking people everywhere.
• Did he get off the train? Shoot! I should have tried to watch better!
• I don’t think I sweat that much on the walk to the station though. Did I?
• Does he not like the conductor on this car today?
• Who’s the conductor on this car today?
• How often do the conductors switch?
• Would he really know who the conductor is today?
• How many hours do conductors work? Must be a hard job.
• Probably well-paid though.
• What was I thinking about? Oh yeah.
• Maybe I should take a shower when I get home.

I did end up with a seat buddy after he left. This guy had the decency to stick around.

(Although I couldn’t tell if he was trying to breathe through his mouth.)