tales from the train

Riding on public transportation, like anything else, has its perks and its drawbacks.

Drawbacks are the usual suspects: sweating before you get to work, alternatively waiting in the freezing cold, extremely close contact with strangers, getting stuck on the tracks when you really have to pee, and witnessing all sorts of crazy.

Perks include general reliability, multitasking, not driving drunk, no looking for parking, no concerns for rush hour, and witnessing all sorts of crazy.

I'm going to try to periodically post about some of my train encounters because sometimes you can't keep all this weirdness to yourself. I hope none of my posts ever start with anything like, "So when I got on the train, I had an iPhone..."

Let's start this series sweet and simple. Today, on the way to and from work, two guys no ehem gentlemen gave me their seats. The first got up when it was disgustingly crowded and opted to brave arm-rubbing with a bunch of very sweaty people. The second was walking toward a seat and then I turned around, saw it, and he forfeited to me. Not a huge deal except that 1) I expected him to sit because he was closer, train rules! and 2) he was reading a book, which is really annoying to do while you're standing up and trying to keep your balance...which he then did all the way to his stop.

Maybe it's sort of sad to think about how rarely this happens (or how quickly I accept), but that slice of chivalry allowed me to read an extra 40 pages in my book while commuting today. Random acts of kindness, people. They keep the world turning!