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Wednesday, January 10, 2007

People in between and the coat that haunts me


I like watching people at the railway station. People are easier to observe while they’re waiting for busses or trains, while they’re in between. Don't get me wrong - if I had anything better to do with the time between when my classes ended and my bus arrived, I'd do it. But I don't.

Inside the station, I always like to sit underneath the clock, so that, other than watching people, I can also watch the minutes tick by. Once there, I place all of my things on the little, round table next to my seat and (pretend to) read my book while secretly spying on people. Multitasking baby. Yeah!

I’m reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. That’s the title. Although I’m not in any way trying to diminish the content by pointing that out. It’s one of those debut novels that end up selling like hotcakes, cause the author was so obviously Born To Be, if you know what I mean.

Sooner or later, a dingy old bus will make a quick stop, on its way to somewhere or other, and a small flock of passengers will tumble out, eager to inhale a cigarette before it starts to move again. They stand on the platform, an arms width apart, blowing smoke and staring at nothing in particular, ignoring each other. If one of them leaves his place, it’ll cause a ripple effect through the line. Positions will shift, circling might occur, a couple of the smoke-blowers might swap places, still seemingly unaware of each other’s existence.

My bus turned up late, as it usually does, and as I made my way towards the platform, I saw The Girl. I have no idea who The Girl is, but she wears the exact same kind of coat that I do. I ordered it from a catalogue last year. She probably did, as well.

I contemplated a couple of amusing ways in which I could kill and torture her (not necessarily in that order), and thought things like: “This town isn’t big enough for the both of us…” I never got to finish my train of thought, because there, in the front of the bus, sat a woman who was also wearing my coat.

I want a new coat…


Pic by Crispulo1976 for www.Flickr.com

12 comments:

Jazz said...

How can so many people have your coat in Hellhole?

Hey, cool word verification today: moan

choochoo said...

jazz - moan is very fitting, I think... *moan* (but not in a good way)

Seems that some of my teacup-mood is still left over from last night

Jazz said...

Come to think of it, this might mean you've become a real, honest to god Hellholer - right down to their fashion sense... That's scary.

Word verif: wzjydjnw - so unimaginative, plus I'll probably not get it right

furiousBall said...

the trainstation is purgatory in a lot of ways. I'm going to name my children after the next word verification I see

choochoo said...

Jazz - AAAARGH!!!

Furiousball - all of'em?

mist1 said...

I have that book. I've been meaning to read it for months now, but something (blogging) keeps distracting me.

choochoo said...

mist1 - that, and you have all of those fascinatin men in your life:P

Steven said...

I want you to get a new coat as well...cause we have the same one.

You're stealing my thunder. ;)

Steve~

choochoo said...

Steve - I hate to tell you this, you being a tough ex-wrestler and all, but your couat is kinda girly:P

Too_Lively said...

You must have a very nice coat!

Jocelyn said...

Wait a minute, is your coat the one with wooden toggles? If so, I saw it on seven people today. Maybe you need to take up knitting and make yourself one of them long sweater thingies.

choochoo said...

Lively - it is. I have great taste, of course:D

Jocelyn - no, mine has big, green buttons. If you see someone in my coat, go right ahead and shoot them. I'll supply you with an alibi