Take a long road trip with someone and, invariably, you begin to pick up on their habits. And, if the road trip is long enough, those habits will grate on you until you pray for swift and sudden deliverance.
Riding the same train every day is kind of like that.
I see the same people every morning. It's like a station wagon filled with total strangers, a carpool experiment that sometimes goes awry.
Among the 14 or so in the last car on the 8.40 southbound, the least popular rider among us is, hands down, the guy who enjoys talking loudly on his phone in some agitated Middle Eastern dialect. Sometimes I close my eyes and am magically transported to a boutique bazaar where I am being subjected to high pressure sales tactics to purchase either a rug or a waffle iron.
Then there's this guy who, for the duration of the trip, triumphantly holds his iPhone at eye level for all to see. I'm not sure if this is health-related (i.e. his neck prohibits him from the traditional head-down mobile position) or if it's a brazen exercise of conspicuous iPhone consumption. "Hey, everyone, I'm playing PacMan!"
No doubt my train actions drive someone on board a little nuts, too. But, hey, if these people can't deal with a little fingernail clipping and electric shaving, I say get off the train!
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