Dateline Boston — I ride the subway every day. It’s a great place for people- watching. I’ve observed fashion statements, random acts of kindness, and intimate moments, all in a very public place.
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The other day I was on the T (as the subway is known in Boston). There was an impromptu game of musical chairs being played. An older Asian couple was sitting apart. When the train stopped, the woman gestured to her husband to sit next to her, which he did. A young man and woman, not together, both got up to let an older Russian woman sit next to her friend. She waved them away and proceeded to sit diagonally across from her friend, carrying on a conversation in Russian. They didn’t look very happy. I wondered what their story was.
The Asian man, he must have been in his early 80s, was reading a kid’s chapter book in English. Maybe he was learning the language. He didn’t read for long; the motion of the T lulled him to sleep. Or maybe it was the content of the book.
At one point, his wife, also in her 80s, dug around in her bag for a drink. She pulled out a water bottle that had been reused to hold tea. She needed a place to put the bottle so she could close her purse, so she stuck it between her husband’s knees. He stirred a little, then held the bottle as if he had done it before. It was such a personal moment. I wondered how long they had been together, and figured it must have been a very long time. It warmed my heart to see their familiarity.
I switched trains. On the next train I noticed that all the men were at one end of the car, all the women at the other end. I love seeing patterns like that. After awhile, the train filled up and the pattern was lost. I was sitting next to a man in his 60s. Across from him was a man in his 20s—tattooed, listening to music on his iPod. A song came on that he really got into, and he started air drumming. The older man commented to him, something about drumming, and they began a short conversation. It was nice to see because one might not have ever imagined the two of them talking. As the younger man got off the train, he bid the older one a nice day. That also warmed my heart.
People make the world go ‘round, it’s true. Sometimes on train tracks.
Ms. Campbell may be contacted at campbellalexandra@hotmail.com
