Musing on a tube journey
Tuesday, June 21st, 2005 08:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caddymanThere was a strange little woman on the tube home today. I've seen her before; she's rather striking, which I guess is a shame, since her demeanour suggests that she'd rather just shrink into the background. This is somewhat at odds with the fact that her entrance was guaranteed to have people spying on her over their papers and books. Having scuttled onto the train, she stood in front of her seat for a moment before trying it with her foot as if to check that it wasn't going to bite or run away. Then she sat down. Clearly nervous, each time I see her she sits on the very edge of the tube car seat clutching her bag and looking at the floor in the middle distance. Physically quite slight, she has moved past fragile to frail, and despite not being obviously poor or destitute, looks as though a good shower and new -or cleaner- clothes wouldn't hurt. That said, she's never been dressed the same way twice when I've seen her, so...
She looks to be at least part south east asian, maybe Malay, or somewhere like that, and has one of those faces that could be anywhere between 25 and 45. I guess maybe toward the older end of that spectrum as her hair is streaked grey. I fear that she has mental problems, which is why she stands out, despite shrinking back.
Never interacting with other passengers, she appears less distracted, more an oblivion unlike most people who simply try to avoid eye contact. It's definitely that, more as if she is oblivious than distracted. Again, given that she is clearly trying not to be there on some level, her behaviour marks her out, and it was clear that those sitting around her were maintaining that rather edgy level of observation that people do when they aren't quite sure how, or if to react.
And that's it. Just an observation of someone in the city. A sad little soul with an unknown story.
She looks to be at least part south east asian, maybe Malay, or somewhere like that, and has one of those faces that could be anywhere between 25 and 45. I guess maybe toward the older end of that spectrum as her hair is streaked grey. I fear that she has mental problems, which is why she stands out, despite shrinking back.
Never interacting with other passengers, she appears less distracted, more an oblivion unlike most people who simply try to avoid eye contact. It's definitely that, more as if she is oblivious than distracted. Again, given that she is clearly trying not to be there on some level, her behaviour marks her out, and it was clear that those sitting around her were maintaining that rather edgy level of observation that people do when they aren't quite sure how, or if to react.
And that's it. Just an observation of someone in the city. A sad little soul with an unknown story.