People You Meet on Trains

I don't always have conversations with people sitting next to me on trains but when I do, I almost always enjoy it. I remember about a month ago I met a lady who was sitting with a slightly restless yet well-behaved dog. We started talking as she told me how her dog, a retriever I am guessing, with the most gorgeous coat of chocolate coloured fur, needed a wee. The lady, quite old herself, told me she was on her way to visit her grandmother! She then went on to tell me that she did acupuncture on animals. I didn't even know they did it for animals.

Conversations like this make me wonder how much I miss when I keep to myself on so many commutes. You so often only meet people in the same circles, say from work or school that you almost never meet people that do something entirely different. Not that I don't enjoy talking about what I do but something new is always refreshing.

More recently I met another lady while I was on my way to Cornwall. It was past midnight and she started off saying she caught the slow train by mistake and would now be late. Somewhere along the conversation she mentioned she was worried about getting home late only because she had 2 rescue dogs and she didn't want them to be left alone for too long. Gotta love dog people. She then noticed my cycle and asked me what my plans were. It is funny how when you see old people, you forget they could have once done what you enjoy doing. As I told her about my plans she studied my bike and noticed all the gears and told me how the bike she had didn't have any and one had to struggle while going uphill. She told me she enjoyed biking when she was in university but then had to give it up as she had to commute to work. She even understood what I did as she taught zoology and the conversation made my journey pass pretty quickly.

I don't know how but I always bond well with old people. I like to think I have a mature soul that connects with theirs.