Scenes from a [T]

[spatch]

THE SETTING: An ORANGE LINE train to OAK GROVE. Somewhere between COMMUNITY COLLEGE and SULLIVAN SQUARE. A YOUNG WOMAN answers her cellphone and begins speaking loudly.

YOUNG WOMAN, practically screaming: Hello? ... Hello, yeah, I just want to tell you that I'm not speaking to you anymore. I'M NOT SPEAKING TO YOU ANYMORE! And you're never gonna get any more drugs from me. NO MORE DRUGS! And if I -- hello?!

She snaps her CELLPHONE shut angrily and glares out the window. The ASSORTED PASSENGERS try not to react. YOUR HUMBLE NARRATOR pretends to intently stare at the Orange Line Map. Presently an OLDER GENTLEMAN, dressed in the garb of a professional T rider, speaks up.

OLDER GENTLEMAN: He hung up on you, eh?

YOUNG WOMAN: Mind your business!

OLDER GENTLEMAN'S LADY FRIEND: You on the cellphone so loudly you made it our business.

YOUNG WOMAN: You mind your own fuckin business too!

The rest of the ride is spent in AWKWARD SILENCE.



fin

Comments

[invisibelle.livejournal.com]

snicker, that's awesome. the public transportation I often ride has seats that face each other, which, I'm sure you can imagine, makes such situations that much more awkward.

[spatch]

Oh, that's what the Orange Line trains have. Seats on the sides of the train facing in. Avoiding eye contact isn't just the law in Boston, but it's also a fun game! I've practically taught myself both Spanish and Vietnamese by reading the train ads.

[invisibelle.livejournal.com]

Funny that you mention learning other languages, because I taught myself how to read Devanagari (the script Sanskrit and Hindi are written in) from a book that I use to avoid making eye contact on the train. it also makes me look weird and brainy, which usually keeps people from talking to me, yay!