Normally, I'd Pay a Dollar for That

So Thursday afternoon, the train was a bit crowded headed back north for home. I was late at work and the day was a bit crazy, so it wasn't until the 6:05 local route that I was able to get aboard and start the journey.

With it being close to the holidays and all, I thought maybe this train wouldn't be as crowded as its 5:20 ad 5:34 counterparts.

Not so fast, my friends.

The train was in fact packed, which led to people standing in the aisles. And not for nothing, and this is happened on 3 consecutive occasions, but when the train is packed and there are no seats, and you people continue to wander through the car looking for seats that aren't there, why is it that when you have to stop and decide, "OK, I think I'll park my ass right here and stand," even when no one else in that part of the train is doing likewise yet, that you plant your ass right next to where I'm sitting? Your ass doesn't interest me!

But this got taken to a whole new level on Thursday. The woman that was standing in the aisle next to my seat was also carrying on a conversation of sorts with a guy sitting in the same row but on the opposite side of the aisle from me. They were part talking and part signing, so it was kind of hard to tell what was going on (I saw three people carrying on a sign language conversation on the Metro the other day and wondered how you could tell who was interrupting). Anyway ... the woman who was parked in the aisle kept shuffling around, looking for a place to get comfortable. I thought about offering her my seat, but then that would have inconvenienced the poor chap who was already caught sitting between the two people in the conversation. (Ideally, that dude should have switched seats with me, and then I could have traded with the woman for a player to be named later).

Anyhow, in her desire to get comfortable, the woman decided she was going to sit/squat in the aisle. Yeah, that didn't work. There's a reason why wide loads don't take one-lane roads. So, the story ends with the woman going to squat/sit/whatever she was doing, and sitting pretty much right in my lap. At first, I'm not even sure she realized what she had done. But you're in the aisle! If you sit down on something, you fucked up!

She jumped up and immediately apologized and I'm like, "yeah, that's fine." I really wasn't in the mood to call any more attention to the incident than necessary. It was a hell of a way to wake up, however, from my half-hearted attempt at sleep on the ride home.

Course, I guess this gives "ride home" a whole new meaning.

MDR