The sad people in the subway

Riding the subway one morning, my Ipod touch battery died in the middle of a movie I was watching. Annoyed I removed the ear buds and looked around me in the overcrowded subway car. People were reading newspapers, looking into their mobile devices, no one talking, everyone avoiding eye contact. Serious and self absorbed people. I don't like the rush hour commute. No one likes it apparently.The commute time's sad.


The train has stopped at St. George station. A glossy commercial of impossibly beautiful, happy people prizing the qualities of products that make happiness possible at a nominal price were looking at the passengers. I looked again around me. The contrast of the people in the real world and the people in the we-all-wish-to-be there world stroke me.


An older gentleman looked up from his newspaper and our eyes met. I nodded politely. He returned the node automatically with that confused look "where do I know this person from" and made himself busy with the newspaper again. In my city everyone is polite.
The older gent made his way to the door at the next stop. Before leaving the train he looked back at me. This time I nodded and smiled at him. He (still confused) nodded and smiled back and disappeared in the crowd. At that moment I felt good. I made one person smile, I was smiling and suddenly the commute wasn't so sad.