hiking and humanity

This not being the time of year when I generally enjoy hiking in glorious mountains like THE ALPS, I've taken up hiking in the metro. There are sometimes a lot of stairs. There are also sometimes men in the metro car playing amazing accordion music that makes me want to tango even after 10 minutes of the same song being played over and over. I thought the boy standing next to me was equally into it and for a second dreamed that everyone would break out of normal behavior and we really would start dancing then I realized he had earbuds in and was bobbing his head to his own personal soundtrack. Then the doors opened and Accordion Man saw metro officials about to get on so he beat it. I spent the rest of my ride quietly watching the faces of everybody around me, just like normal.

Last week or the week before I was riding on line 2, a line I adore because for several sections it goes above ground. Above ground! With sky and things to look at and large windows! Isn't everybody so happy and smiling just to emerge from the grubby, sketchy mole tunnel? No. Just me. OK. 

Line two has newer trains with large windows and cars that are connected for the length of the train. On this particular day a woman walked through my car and as she passed me I saw she had toilet paper stuck to the bottom of her shoe. "!!!!" I thought, "I've never seen that in real life!" Then I began wondering if I should draw her attention to it, the midwesterner in me was very concerned about the situation. She was clipping along though and too far away, I'd have had to chase her down. No other passenger was saying anything to her as she passed, I could see her for a while until I lost her around a bend. I hope she has a moment to notice and discretely lose the TP.

At the next stop a Hasidic Jewish man got on at the same time as two trendy 20 something women. They caught my attention because despite the incongruity of their appearances the three had obviously just finished conversing in a friendly manner and were now taking their respective places aboard the car. Also, the man along with his black hat, forelocks twisted around his ears, black suit, and prayer shawl, had a Holiday Inn traveler's bag. I voted him favorite person of the day even though it was only 10:30am.

The man and I both got off at Stalingrad and I noticed that as he descended he said "au revoir!" to the two young women (Courtesy lives!! I thought) and further down the platform I saw TP woman get off as well with no more toilet paper stuck to her shoe. Humanity had won many small victories that morning.