Life's Little Victories
When I am on the train going home, I do not like to get up after I find a seat and sit down. I want to sit down and immediately get my ticket ready and read my book. I don't want to be disrupted. I want to stay seated until the train reaches my stop. This means I do what it takes to not have to move to let someone in my row. If I'm sitting in the aisle seat, I will ask anyone requesting to sit in my what her stop is. If that person is getting off before me, I will gladly take the middle seat. It's is much easier than standing up, moving into the aisle to let the other passenger into the middle seat, and then getting up again at that passenger's stop.
Today I boarded the train and found an available seat in the two facing rows at the back of the car. Two people were in this group of seats already. One was sitting on the aisle and one was sitting at the window. I decided to take the remaining window seat since I wouldn't have to move at all as other people came to sit in this row. The passenger opposite me was an elderly woman of middle height, who, like most American adults, was significantly taller than I am. I politely tucked in my stubby legs so they were a reasonable distance (for a train anyway) from hers and pulled out my book.
Another minute later, she moved into the middle seat. It was obvious she couldn't bear to have my knees hovering just a few inches across from hers. She needed to sit with no one close to her.
Along came a tall and portly teenager who took the aisle seat next to her. His body occupied all of his seat and appeared to be spilling into hers a bit.
Then a statuesque and voluptuous woman, quite a bit taller than this elderly woman and significantly bigger and taller than I, sat in the middle seat. There was some extreme leg tucking going on here to maintain that polite distance between knees. The elderly woman did not look happy.
The train began to move. Nobody came and sat in the window seat opposite me. I stretched out my legs and smiled.
I tried not to smirk at the former occupant of the seat opposite me.
Ah schadenfreude!
Today I boarded the train and found an available seat in the two facing rows at the back of the car. Two people were in this group of seats already. One was sitting on the aisle and one was sitting at the window. I decided to take the remaining window seat since I wouldn't have to move at all as other people came to sit in this row. The passenger opposite me was an elderly woman of middle height, who, like most American adults, was significantly taller than I am. I politely tucked in my stubby legs so they were a reasonable distance (for a train anyway) from hers and pulled out my book.
Another minute later, she moved into the middle seat. It was obvious she couldn't bear to have my knees hovering just a few inches across from hers. She needed to sit with no one close to her.
Along came a tall and portly teenager who took the aisle seat next to her. His body occupied all of his seat and appeared to be spilling into hers a bit.
Then a statuesque and voluptuous woman, quite a bit taller than this elderly woman and significantly bigger and taller than I, sat in the middle seat. There was some extreme leg tucking going on here to maintain that polite distance between knees. The elderly woman did not look happy.
The train began to move. Nobody came and sat in the window seat opposite me. I stretched out my legs and smiled.
I tried not to smirk at the former occupant of the seat opposite me.
Ah schadenfreude!
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