Public transportation is always an experiment in human interaction. Everyone knows the unspoken rules: no eye contact, no touching, no weirdness. I often wonder about who these people are, where they are going, what they want, who they know, who they love, etc.
But they are still strangers, separated from me by the Social Contract.
This morning's commute was business as usual. Every stop would take more people out, more people in. As I stared out the window at the dark underground zooming by, something caught my eye in the reflection. The young woman sitting next to me listening to her ipod.
I turned my head to confirm what I had seen.
She was staring head, bobbing her head slightly to the music and nonchalantly nomming on her headphone cords.
As I stared at her tasting the music, she turned her head as well and made eye contact.
There was a pause. And then the realization.
And shamefully continued staring ahead.
We both started silently shaking with laughter, trying to hide our embarrassed metro-inappropriate giggles. We eventually made eye contact again and started laughing aloud at the awkward stranger interaction.
No words had been exchanged and yet we both had had a conversation. A stranger-to-stranger metro interaction.
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