Metro riders continue to surprise... a GWU professor asked my views on Camus (yes, existential angst is written all over my face), another chap offered me a piece of chewing gum (great, i smell bad too) and yet another chap hungrily took my mint breakers when i offered him one (my very own version of a soup kitchen). but the best strangers on the train are still in the metros of Paris and Moscow. so a trip down nostalgia lane...
it was circa 1983 in former Soviet Union and i was waiting for a terribly irresponsible parent to pick me up from swimming practice... tired of waiting till pretty late in the evening, i went down to the metro and headed home. this nice old lady in the train must've seen the tears coming on this 8-yr-old and offered me the best piece of chocolate ever.
in Paris, i simply lost the whole family in the crowded subway (the question of who let go of whose hand is still debatable) but had the good sense to get off at the next station to wait for them. again, this college kid just wanted to stand with this 10-yr-old until my parents came to fetch me. in hindsight, he could've been a totally shady guy but i was reassured by his company. maybe these were all just elaborate plots by my parents to get rid of me... but i think their wish finally came true a few years ago!!! :)
5 comments:
isn't it amazing how parents somehow always "lose" their kids in crowded platforms? :) Just like the kumbh ka mela... I think they'd want you back now - home safe.
"maybe these were all just elaborate plots by my parents to get rid of me..."
ohhhh I would’ve made them pay for their “plot” by being the toughest kid they had ever seen.. well at least for a month or year.. lol.. Forget about making sure to tell everybody this story that there coming 7 generations will remember it… lol j/k
Now they wish more than ever they never came looking for you in Paris ;)
Our best experience was in Paris subway when a lady, pregnet - no less, sneaked behind and was opening my wife's handbag. When I caught her, she pretented as if nothing happened and waddled away. Subways offer abundant fun, dont't they
kanika: yeah, i feel like singing 'just u wait!' hmm :)
mommyof2: payback is always a bitch, isn't it??
dna: haha!! [picturing waddling pregnant thief]
best
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