Thu 3 Apr 2008
The Joy of Six
Posted by TJ under 6:10
[2] Comments
A funny thing happened on the 6:10 last night.
I boarded at around 6:09, headed toward the back, where I thought I might find an aisle seat, and started scoping out real estate.
A full-on six-seater sat completely unoccupied.
Instead of jumping on it, the skeptic in me told me to wait a second and assess the situation. Was there a homeless guy parked across the aisle, his suitcase stinking of fish? It was right behind the bathroom–was there a river of blue urine snaking underfoot?
Even if everything seemed copasetic, which it did, what if another late arriver or two were to claim some of the remaining five seats, and somehow force me to sit knee-to-knee with a stranger all the way to White Plains? (Why doesn’t smartass TJ come up with a Word of the Week for that one…Commutjugal visits or something?)
I grabbed the six seater. No one else boarded. I had the whole damn thing to myself.
I leaned forward and rested my knees on the seat in front of me. I spread my bag and newspapers all over the place. I sat sideways and enjoyed the view.
Then I got bored, and a bit lonely. It was kind of like house-sitting for Hef, only you’ve got no one to invite to the mansion. I longed for a cramped two-seater, the intimacy of a stranger seated next to me.
But at least I got to try it.