Like trains passing in the day
I love travelling alone. It’s by far the best way to meet people that I’ve ever found.
Like right now, for example. I’m sitting on a train. A man, travelling alone, listening to headphones and drinking a beer.
The train is pretty full, and all kinds of delayed. To get here, I shuffled along the aisle behind a rabble of strangers at a busy time, each looking amongst the occupied seats, to spot a place to hunker in for the 3 hour trip home from London.
There’s a table, fully occupied by three people, clearly engaged in a conversation of some sort. The rest of my acquaintances walk straight past, but I pause. I ask whether I can sit down.
Only slightly perplexed, the man I ask considers my request, and after a split second, he acquiesces, moving his bag and iPad over to make room for me.
I shuffle onto the now vacant seat, headphones still on, putting my beer on the table. My new travelling pals look at each other a little sheepishly, rearrange their space, making room for the stranger.
They’re not sure what to make of me. But after a minute, they continue where they left off, albeit more timidly.
They’re playing hangman. Two parents and a daughter. They’re polite. Friendly with each other. They take turns, and smile awkwardly at me, but, aren’t ready to start a conversation with this stranger yet.
Still listening to my headphones, I find my attention drawn to their game. They’ve been playing for a while, and are finding ways to keep interested. The current topic seems to be movies, and a debate emerges over ‘Superman 2’.
“You can’t use numbers in hangman”, says Dad.
I can’t help but smile, and Mum and Daughter notice, smiling back.
The next round of the game is causing problems. I think that a hyphen is in the word and can see the game slipping into a frustrating family argument
I take my headphones off, lean forward, and, say to Dad:
“Sorry to interrupt, but would a hyphen be considered a letter or the start of a new word?”
Blammo. The 4th wall has been broken. And not only that. It turns out I guessed right. The cat’s now out of the bag. Daughter quickly guesses the 'x-men’ and everyone chuckles.
I’ve moved from being an odd stranger held at arms length, to part of the conversation. The family lean in, smile warmly, and we talk for a while, exchanging stories.
But I’m just a traveller here, and I don’t intend to disrupt this family’s time together.
The train journey continues, and after a few minutes, I begin to write ...
