The train is a place of wonder, wow and wtf. It is rude to show the soles of your feet, yawn or display your arm pits if you are standing up and holding the handcuff looking thingies. I can appreciate these rules very much.
However it is obviously very acceptable to stare. I feel like I am the latest game show, all the passengers waiting for me to breathe, bat my eyes, show the winning hand...maybe get up and do a snippet of a hip-hop video. As people friendly as I am, I feel a little like a toddler who is being forced to sing a Christmas song for the aunt I don’t even know.
An old wise woman gets on the train. I don’t know her but I can tell she’s wise. All the seats are full. She must be carrying about a million tiny bags. No one moves. I feel compelled to give her my seat. This is the kind of person I am--a give up your seat to a beautiful old wise woman kind of woman. Because it is not cool to touch I can't figure out how to get her attention and because I don't speak much Japanese, all I can muster is...sumimasen which simply means excuse me. She looks frightened. My Christmas song must suck. I forge on. I point to the empty seat. (Point with an open hand/palms up, never a finger. Think Vana White on Wheel of Fortune.)
This is when the most magical thing happened! Our eyes met for at least seven seconds. She sat. I stood. After a pause she bowed to me in her seat. I bowed back. It was like a tennis match and both of us were Venus. We must have exchanged 30 bows between us. She got off after the 30th bow and she smiled. A big smile. I smiled back.
**Magic I tell you.**
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