Rock With You
The bus is running and the doors hang open, but not a single passenger climbs in. At other gates people impatiently crowd the doors, but at #3, everyone waits on … Continue reading
A Seat of One’s Own
A boy and his little brother–each armed with a sack of groceries–board the bus and rush to pile onto a single vacant seat. The younger boy’s brown eyes flash as … Continue reading
Business Man or Poor Man
Two Australian girls reacted with alarm that their protein bars hadn’t melted in the heat. Outside the Dubrovnik airport, waiting on a bus to the city center, the girls stared … Continue reading
Staring Contest
From the back of her head she seemed too young to be mother of those two children. The mother pulled her daughter close and studied some food residue on the … Continue reading
Do-Re-Mi S.O.S.
As bus merged onto the highway, leaving no chance for unhappy passengers to disembark, a group of Slovakian college students old enough to know better broke into song. The driver … Continue reading
Punctual
She was forty-five minutes early for her train–the young woman who kept looking at the arrival screen above her and straining to listen to the loudspeaker’s announcements. Bahnsteig Eins, Bahnsteig … Continue reading
Personal Space
At mid-morning, the U-Bahn platform was nearly abandoned. The young woman with ceaseless layers walked to her usual waiting place and stopped. From this point, her transfers to other subway … Continue reading
So, Thank You.
Flirting with the narrator was a sure way into the story. He must have known this, though certainly half her age. He approached at the bus stop not long after … Continue reading
A Love Story in Eight Bus Stops
This is perhaps the only time in recorded history when a woman has given a double-take to a man in a beige running suit and fanny pack. He boards the … Continue reading
Self-Sufficient
An elementary-aged girl pushed the button for the tram to stop, then turned to her birdcage, which she had propped on a nearby seat. She exhaled and prepared herself with … Continue reading
Waiting for Eve
The mix of humanity at the Budapest bus stop included backpackers, Spaniards, grandmothers with grandchildren, and the Miss Eden Contestants of 2011. Several of the teenage girls stood by pink … Continue reading
Tram Nap
The Kabataş tram sighs through an intersection and a boy stops short to let it pass. He waits with some annoyance, until he discovers something in the last car. A … Continue reading
Bitte Schön
He stands up when the little old lady comes through the doors, since there are no available seats in his section of the U-Bahn. It is not a crowded mid-day, … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 