interesting interactions on the subway

today

a latina woman with lots of eye liner on

sat down next to me on the M train toward brooklyn

i was reading david lynch

and she mumbled something about her ear

"you mean its popping?"

i said

and she said no, like an itch

it's a spanish saying

and without taking a breath

she started to tell me about her terrible day

working with secretaries

who work for a manager

who work for a doctor

and the manager does good things for her

but yells all the time

and makes her cry

one secretary complained

and the doctor asked them all if it was true

and the woman didn't want to tell on the manager,

but it was true, that the manager yelled a lot

and later,

the manager came to ask her

what the doctor had said

and how uncomfortable it was.

while she was talking

i thought about why she had chosen to talk to me,

and i wondered if any other person on the subway

would've bothered.

"doesn't that sound like a bad day?" she asked

and i nodded and smiled

as she stood up to leave.

i told her i hoped she had a better day tomorrow

and realized she'd only been on the train

for the duration of one stop to the next.

i was left feeling

confused

but touched regardless.