oh, the people you'll meet

I met a very interesting man on the train home on Friday. And this time, this seemingly friendly man didn't turn out to be a creeper. Just chatty.

I sat down on the inside of a two-seater row on the bottom of a new double-decker train. (I thought I told myself to avoid that seat...but it was okay this time.) As I heard the sliding of the train doors as we were about to leave, I thought to myself happily that nobody would sit next to me. But then a young (vague description...he was probably in his 30s), rosy-cheeked man with a rather high-pitched voice said to me, "Miss, is this seat taken? Would you mind if I sat here?" I was startled for a minute that 1) he would ask me 2) he would use Miss; most of the times people will just take the empty seat or nod their head towards it.

And then he jumped right in with the questions. Where was I going, where did I come from, what had I done in the city? Despite my usual belief that you should always give people the benefit of the doubt, I was highly skeptical of this person (shame on me? or do previous train experiences let me off the hook?).

But he let me know as much information about himself. He was heading towards Raritan, and had came from visiting a friend in the city. He treated his friend to dinner because the man had picked up his Visa for him-- he was heading to China for the first time in a few weeks. He had a fiancee who taught English at a university in Shanghai, and he had worked hard to save money for this trip. He was planning to make 2 week trips every 6 months--but that meant he had no other vacation days at work. He looked tired, and he said it was very draining not to be able to take sick days or mental health days. But this was the decision he made.

He advised me to study abroad, and also talked about great places I should try for food. He mentioned something about some the famous Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden place in Astoria, Queens. He also told me where to go for food in Newark if I ever went there--and told me about the greatest __________s ever there (some alcoholic beverage...something fruity that starts with an s. I recognized it when I heard it, but because of my lack of familiarity with the topic in general I've forgotten the name.)

All in all, it was a very packed conversation for only a few minutes (he got off at Newark Penn Station). But I'm happy it happened....people surprise me, often in good ways. And I like that.