Why I am not an utter misanthrope
Jan. 22nd, 2011 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyEight o' clock on the subway, heading westbound on the Bloor line to Ossington. It's a Saturday night, so the subway's a bit crowded—I still manage to get an almost-ideal seat. A few seats away, an ungainly and mildly thuggish-looking boy of about sixteen or seventeen listens to his iPod. Next to me, a girl who looks and dresses rather like Billie Piper listens to her iPod. Several people stare straight ahead in that practiced TTC-rider way where you stare at nothing to avoid people's eyes.
The boy abruptly stands and walks to towards the subway door. Seemingly oblivious to everyone around him, he starts to dance. He's the opposite of ungainly. He executes a near-perfect two-step, presumably to the unheard soundtrack on his iPod, critically watching his reflection in the Plexiglass door.
Unsure of what I'm seeing—the beginning of a flash mob? The results of not enough sleep? Are we all supposed to join in?—I glance over at Billie Piper. She shoots me a quick, puzzled glance. The middle-aged black lady halfway down the car also sees the dancing, and offers an amused grin. I grin back. No one but the three of us is at all aware of the dancing.
...which just gets better and more interesting, as he starts to throw in some hip-hop moves into his routine. Billie bops along, apparently—as I'm also doing with my iPod—adjusting her soundtrack to fit the boy's rhythm. The middle-aged lady—I kid you not—appears to have popcorn and starts eating it as she watches intensely. We're all beaming now. The kid just keeps dancing, pausing only to swing aside when the doors open to let more people onto the subway car, all the way until Yonge. We wave a little sadly when he gets off.
I lose my two fellow witnesses at St. George, but they both exchange friendly smiles with me as they leave, the shared memory still lingering in the cold, muddy subway car.
The boy abruptly stands and walks to towards the subway door. Seemingly oblivious to everyone around him, he starts to dance. He's the opposite of ungainly. He executes a near-perfect two-step, presumably to the unheard soundtrack on his iPod, critically watching his reflection in the Plexiglass door.
Unsure of what I'm seeing—the beginning of a flash mob? The results of not enough sleep? Are we all supposed to join in?—I glance over at Billie Piper. She shoots me a quick, puzzled glance. The middle-aged black lady halfway down the car also sees the dancing, and offers an amused grin. I grin back. No one but the three of us is at all aware of the dancing.
...which just gets better and more interesting, as he starts to throw in some hip-hop moves into his routine. Billie bops along, apparently—as I'm also doing with my iPod—adjusting her soundtrack to fit the boy's rhythm. The middle-aged lady—I kid you not—appears to have popcorn and starts eating it as she watches intensely. We're all beaming now. The kid just keeps dancing, pausing only to swing aside when the doors open to let more people onto the subway car, all the way until Yonge. We wave a little sadly when he gets off.
I lose my two fellow witnesses at St. George, but they both exchange friendly smiles with me as they leave, the shared memory still lingering in the cold, muddy subway car.
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Date: 2011-01-23 05:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 05:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 05:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 06:02 am (UTC)The world is complex, mysterious and can be beautiful, despite how horrible we can be, we are amazing creatures in all facets.
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Date: 2011-01-23 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-23 06:31 pm (UTC)It would make a really sweet short film!
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Date: 2011-01-23 07:07 pm (UTC)I like moments of "is that art?"
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Date: 2011-01-24 04:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-24 04:28 pm (UTC)