I've already talked about the people you get used to seeing when you catch the same train every day. Now that I've changed carriages, I have the fun of starting all over again - people accepting that I am a part of their circle of not-known compatriots on the journey. Something I have noticed is that I seem to attract the same middle-aged lady to sit next to me quite regularly.
There's no particular reason why she would choose to sit with me the train is less than half full, & I sit in the middle of the carriage, but she's done it several times now. I don't mind - she flaps her arms about a bit at first, but then she settles down to quiet reading. She doesn't wear overpowering perfume. She doesn't even sniffle. One could almost call her the perfect travelling companion if it wasn't for the fact that I have no idea what she looks like - she approaches me from behind.
Interestingly, I think she is just as oblivious of me - I get up before her, & she invariably has to get up & pick up her second bag from the floor. She blocks my way forward down the carriage, & then gets back into the seat with someone else. You would think that her consistency of sitting next to me would eventually get her to the point of realising that I always get off at that stop, & that she will always have to shift her stuff to allow me to do so.
Maybe she hopes that I will not get off there. Maybe she dreams of the days before I joined the carriage, when that seat had been empty for her to be on the window side.
For now, we shall be comfortable companions who tolerate each others' existence, even if we have no idea who we're travelling with.
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