Scene and heard

So there I was, sitting at the divider end of a 3-seat bench on the R train this morning, on my way to work after the 3-day weekend, finally reading Brick Lane by Monica Ali – my Mum gave it to me 2 years ago. The train was a little crowded, with a few people standing. Due to the stupid design of these seats, 3 average sized people can barely sit in comfort – if not wearing winter coats, so most often, the middle seat is empty. The most common exceptions to this rule are when very narrow hipped women slip almost unnoticed into the gap and very broad hipped women overspill the available space, spreading their weight between the seat and their unfortunate neighbours.

This morning, a short and slender woman who should not have had any problems slotting in, made a beeline for the gap to my left. She immediately started muttering angrily and nudging right and left until her shoulders had replaced mine and those of the woman at the other end of the bench. She continued her muttering. Was it in English or Polish? I didn’t care! Her nonsense was far less compelling to me than Massive Attack, who were soothing my senses by way of my iPod. The first woman couldn’t take it anymore and moved away. The crazy woman, instead of moving to the end of the bench, turned her attention and tirade fully on me. I said: “I’m sorry for being me. If this divider wasn’t to my right, maybe I could make a little more room. But it is there and I am as wide as I am.” And I reclaimed the original resting place for my left shoulder. She cursed again, elbowed me in the chest and stormed off. Did somebody say hyper-tension?