I've been riding the T a lot lately. (And for you out-of-towners the "T" is the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Association's subway system, or the T for short.)
And to be honest, I kind of like it. I know that there is a chance in the future that I will take back that statement or even claim that I never made such a statement, like if a train is delayed and I'm late to work or class, but for the present I'm enjoying it. Although, I have to admit that I have yet to master and perfect my disinterested stare. My eyes still retain their curious sparkle and I'm almost certain I smile too much.
This is probably why I've had a couple of strange encounters on the T.
Like the boy that admired my owl ring, asked to try it on and then proceeded to ask me my sign all before the train left the station. I was almost sure he was going to sprint off the train at the next stop with my ring still on. Not that this was an expensive ring, but I just got it and it's pretty cool. He didn't take off though. He just sat next to me and talked my ear off about how he is a piano player from Temple University and kept trying to guess my astrological sign. Side-note: he wasn't even close.
My new roommate just sat next to me and we both tried not to laugh or make eye contact during the entire encounter. Thankfully, he stopped talking eventually and soon enough we were at our stop and on our merry way. It wasn't until after that I realized the whole astrological thing was probably his way of hitting on me, not that it was a very original pick-up line. In fact, it's probably the most cliched line in the book. But I decided the reason he talked to me in the first place was because I looked approachable. Maybe, too approachable.
Which brings me to my next encounter, which happened before I boarded the actual T. I was on my way to the platform to wait for the next train with my other roommate and some guys that looked like they were taking some sort of survey or were going to ask me to 'save the whales' yelled to us as we were crossing the street: "Are you ladies friendly?" I yelled back "Sometimes!" Then I just kept walking.
The point of that second story is to show that I'm learning. Because Toto, we definitely are not in Colorado/Arizona anymore. I think it's because we all get so much sun, we're just naturally more sunny people. The vitamin D just glows out of our pores.
I'm not saying that I plan on being grumpy for the next three years because I can't just change my personality, I'm a generally friendly person, but I will try to tone down the friendly a bit. Try to make myself a little less approachable. Maybe I'll start wearing headphones all the time even if I don't feel like listening to music...but those things sometimes hurt my ears so maybe not. I'm sure I'll figure out something along the way.
One thing's for sure. Riding the T will definitely give this writer tons of writing material whether I am looking for it or not.
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