06 February 2011

Spotted on the subway


...in the hands of an extremely agitated man on the D train, in the rare car that has plenty of empty seats and nothing horrible-smelling.

He sat near me, then he fidgeted with his coat and tote bag for a long time. Then he gathered them up with a harrumph and took a seat on the other side of the doors. Was it me? You never want it to be you. My only guess was that he was spooked by either my intermittent sniffles (from the cold) or the cut under my eye when I beat up a bunch of Steelers fans faceplanted into a snowbank walking to the train.

I definitely want to know more about this book, though. Have you ever asked someone out in public about what he or she was reading? (Was it a disaster?)

3 comments:

Wade Garrett said...

I regularly (at least once or twice a month) ask people on the subway about the books that they're reading, provided they're not too creepy-looking. I usually ask if it is a book I've been meaning to read for one reason or another.

Ellen said...

Paradoxically, I would probably notice and be moved to comment on my fellow riders' choice of reading more, were I not usually immersed in my own book. (Today I'd finished mine and GASP! didn't have a spare.)

Milissa said...

I ALWAYS ask if it's something I'm interested in. And I can't remember a time when someone was rude about it...most readers want to share what they are reading.