On my way to work this morning, I was running late, which believe it or not is a rare occurrence, and was able to catch the Purple line which typically saves me 15 minutes over the Red line. The only drawback is, the Red line runs every 2-3 minutes while the Purple line runs every 11-14 minutes. So if you make it to the station at the opportune moment, you can have the joy of riding the Purple line and getting to work earlier or right on time if you are running a little late.
Anyway, I hopped on board the Purple and immediately noticed the scarcity of seats, due to it's speed, the Purple line is also more popular, that also may be a result of the fact that it runs about 5 times less often than the Red line which takes you in the same direction and Downtown. Now, I am not someone who really cares who I sit next to on the train, but I will avoid shady looking people, and I will be more prone to sit next to people I find more attractive and less threatening, this is true for males and females alike. I was at the front of the car, unable to find a good seat, I traversed the length of the car to the back and sat down next to a pretty girl.
I don't make moves on the train, that's way too creepy, but often times friendly conversation ensues and a pleasant trip on the train is your reward. Today, however, like most days actually, I had my book ready to read. I recently finished a book by Michael Bulgakov, a great Russian author, the book was entitled "Master and Margarita" given to me by a dear friend. The book I was reading today however is a book I started several months ago, got distracted by school and other books and have restarted today, "Three Cups of Tea" which is always a pleasure to read since I can relate to the people and events described. Anyway, why am I still talking about these books? I wanted to talk about my train ride!
Anyway, as I pulled out my three cups of tea, on a train too! I heard an inquisitive and soft, "Salman..?" Pronounced correctly too, so I knew it was someone that knew me well. It turned towards the girl, who was on my left, and replied with delight, "Nina!" It was my high school friend and college friend, Christina Prescott. She looked great from the last time I saw her. We talked the whole way to her Belmont stop from where she would take the Brown line.
I will admit, it was a little awkward and weird at first, I didn't give her a hug or anything, although she deserved one, but it is a little strange groping someone on the train, or ever really. Haha.
It was great talking to her since we basically stopped hanging out after Freshman year, not for any specific reason, we just sort of drifted into different groups of friends, the only group of friends we ever really shared was in high school and that feels like ancient history. (Does 4 years out of high school feel like ancient history to you too?)
She told me about her research work at Rush Medical on Harrison, a few blocks from where I work on Halsted. She is still dating the same guy that she was with 4 years ago, which is great! I hope everyone is able to find someone they can hold on to for longer than a year. They did break up momentarily but are not back together in a long distance relationship since he is working in California. She has devised a plan to get him to come and stay in the City, I mean, why would you leave Chicago for the West Coast in the first place? Ridiculous! Sehr doff!
As we approached her stop, I didn't quite catch what she said to me, I mumbled something along the lines of, "Have a great day, nice seeing you." She said something in response, but I barely heard it, oh well, got a smile and a good conversation out of it.
I have never bumped into anyone on the train before. Hence the detailed post about it. I pseudo-bumped into Carol, we both got off at the Clark and Lake stop while on the same train but in different cars, haha, I should have known too since we were texting each other while on the train headed to downtown.
Fun stuff, life is great for the only reason that it's dynamic and ever-changing. I don't think I would like the same things happening everyday. The same general template exists (Train-Work-Train-Home-Sleep), but things are so intricately different in each on a day to day that it makes like interesting. Thank God for that.
P.S. Oh! The serendipitous aspect of this event was that I was thinking about her randomly a couple days ago. That tends to happen a lot. I will think about someone I haven't seen in a long time, just out of the blue, and I will see them shortly after. Kind of cool, now only if I can figure this out and harness this power so that I will see whoever I think of when I want to see them! First on my list? I guess I should make a list first!
Anyway, I hopped on board the Purple and immediately noticed the scarcity of seats, due to it's speed, the Purple line is also more popular, that also may be a result of the fact that it runs about 5 times less often than the Red line which takes you in the same direction and Downtown. Now, I am not someone who really cares who I sit next to on the train, but I will avoid shady looking people, and I will be more prone to sit next to people I find more attractive and less threatening, this is true for males and females alike. I was at the front of the car, unable to find a good seat, I traversed the length of the car to the back and sat down next to a pretty girl.
I don't make moves on the train, that's way too creepy, but often times friendly conversation ensues and a pleasant trip on the train is your reward. Today, however, like most days actually, I had my book ready to read. I recently finished a book by Michael Bulgakov, a great Russian author, the book was entitled "Master and Margarita" given to me by a dear friend. The book I was reading today however is a book I started several months ago, got distracted by school and other books and have restarted today, "Three Cups of Tea" which is always a pleasure to read since I can relate to the people and events described. Anyway, why am I still talking about these books? I wanted to talk about my train ride!
Anyway, as I pulled out my three cups of tea, on a train too! I heard an inquisitive and soft, "Salman..?" Pronounced correctly too, so I knew it was someone that knew me well. It turned towards the girl, who was on my left, and replied with delight, "Nina!" It was my high school friend and college friend, Christina Prescott. She looked great from the last time I saw her. We talked the whole way to her Belmont stop from where she would take the Brown line.
I will admit, it was a little awkward and weird at first, I didn't give her a hug or anything, although she deserved one, but it is a little strange groping someone on the train, or ever really. Haha.
It was great talking to her since we basically stopped hanging out after Freshman year, not for any specific reason, we just sort of drifted into different groups of friends, the only group of friends we ever really shared was in high school and that feels like ancient history. (Does 4 years out of high school feel like ancient history to you too?)
She told me about her research work at Rush Medical on Harrison, a few blocks from where I work on Halsted. She is still dating the same guy that she was with 4 years ago, which is great! I hope everyone is able to find someone they can hold on to for longer than a year. They did break up momentarily but are not back together in a long distance relationship since he is working in California. She has devised a plan to get him to come and stay in the City, I mean, why would you leave Chicago for the West Coast in the first place? Ridiculous! Sehr doff!
As we approached her stop, I didn't quite catch what she said to me, I mumbled something along the lines of, "Have a great day, nice seeing you." She said something in response, but I barely heard it, oh well, got a smile and a good conversation out of it.
I have never bumped into anyone on the train before. Hence the detailed post about it. I pseudo-bumped into Carol, we both got off at the Clark and Lake stop while on the same train but in different cars, haha, I should have known too since we were texting each other while on the train headed to downtown.
Fun stuff, life is great for the only reason that it's dynamic and ever-changing. I don't think I would like the same things happening everyday. The same general template exists (Train-Work-Train-Home-Sleep), but things are so intricately different in each on a day to day that it makes like interesting. Thank God for that.
P.S. Oh! The serendipitous aspect of this event was that I was thinking about her randomly a couple days ago. That tends to happen a lot. I will think about someone I haven't seen in a long time, just out of the blue, and I will see them shortly after. Kind of cool, now only if I can figure this out and harness this power so that I will see whoever I think of when I want to see them! First on my list? I guess I should make a list first!
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