...just slide...

Everyone is so quiet on the subway in the morning. People are either absorbed into their various papers (or pretending to be,) or sitting there with their eyes closed. No one wants to be singled out and noticed. This morning on the C train there was a woman a year or two older than me who was silently crying. I did not even notice until the woman in the seat across from hers handed her a tissue. When the tissue lady got off a few stops later, the crying one smiled and gave her thanks. The other woman leaned down and whispered something...It was very touching in many ways. First, that something could be so wrong or sad that it would make you cry on the subway, and second, a stranger's compassion. That simple exchange filled me with happiness and hope. It seems so much here (probably every where) that people avoid unnecessary contact.
On the way home in the late afternoon, people are again quiet, though not as much as in the morning. So many look like they are lacking iron and sunlight. It's not even winter yet! I think too many people are working jobs that do not satisfy them. My jobs now require me to spend much more time on public transportation than I normally enjoy, but I also get to walk about three miles a day. This rules! I have to be in a hurry, but it feels good. It is a positive tired at the end of the day.