And Then She Waved.....

The other day I was on the Ubahn....the train, tram, trolley. It was dark and so the window reflections are deceptive.

I like to watch people and try to guess their story....or make a story up about them. But you don't want to look at people directly. Anywhere this is true, but here especially. I don't want to be rude.

Because half the seats on the Ubahn face one way and the other half faces the other, frequently you are sitting tight across from someone. So rather than staring directly at the person across from me, sometimes I watch people in the reflection of the window beside me.

Recently, my second daughter, Ariel, sent me her list of 25 Random Things. She says I should make up a list about myself. This is the kind of thing young people....or myself.... have time for. This is an idea from Facebook. I hear people are addicted to Facebook and I can see why. This is really interesting stuff....what someone choses to pick out of everything they could say about themselves. Or it may be just something done in a second without much thought. I can hear it now, "oh Mom, it's not that big a deal, just do it quick".

Anyway, her list is so cute, I told her, I'd want to be her friend in a minute.

Here are a few of the things on her list to give you an example. She sent it to me because I was part of some of those 25 things.....it's only fair that I know what she wrote. I presume she won't mind me putting this on my blog....it's out there on the internet in Facebook for all to see anyway......

.................................................................................................................................................................................................
6. I really wish Queen had ended "We Are The Champions" with "of the world."
**7. My mom invented the high five during an intramural bowling match at NC State in the early 70's.**10. In 7th grade, I spent my life savings on a unicycle.12. I would like to do a triathalon, but I tend to sink in water.14. Thanks to the lies of my mom, I spent the first 6 years of my life thinking that frozen peas and carrots were candy.18. My family is made up of Little Stevie, Chatty Patty, Alyssa the Brain, me, Lucy the Rebel, and Anna the Nut.
19. I love when you are walking directly at someone, and you both step the same way to go around each other and then you both step the other way and it keeps going back and forth.21. My nose is slightly crooked due to a freak frisbee golf accident.22. For my 21st birthday, my parents sent me silly putty. I was thrilled with this gift until I found out that they sent my sister a camera for hers.24. My ping pong skills are legendary.25. I have a tendency to dress for the weather that I hope will occur, not the actual weather. I end up being cold quite a bit.

and before you get all sad and say, "it's just so hard to be fair all the time" about #22, have no fear. i am, in no way, scarred from it, and i thoroughly enjoyed that silly putty.

.................................................................................................................................................................................................

Anyway, so, of course, I've been thinking of my own Random 25 for the past week. At first it was hard to come up with so many things...but now, I have 30+ interesting tidbits on my list and it's impossible to trim the list down. There are a bunch of items on there....cool things, very random stuff.

One of the things I put on my list....a favorite occupation of mine....is to smile at people and then watch their surprise and then watch their face ease into a smile of return. I find this especially neat with old people who don't expect to even be noticed. I love to watch their faces be happy from a little click sent by someone passing. Even if just for a moment.

Here in Germany people don't smile as much as at home. Mostly eye-contact is avoided. It's just a cultural thing, who knows why. And so people are even more surprised when I smile at them. Usually, though, they do smile back after getting over the surprise of it.

The other night when I was on the train, I looked at the window beside me. It sometimes gets really confusing. There are reflections and there are reflections of reflections. This time, though, I was looking right at this old woman....directly. It took a minute to realize that it wasn't a reflection at all. It was another train right next to my train, so I was looking at a real person, not a reflection at all.

Her train was going in the opposite direction from mine and she was sitting so she was facing me. It was very close.

Sometimes, trains stay at the stop for a few minutes, getting the timing of the schedule just right.

It's funny, where people place their eyes when they're right next to you or across from you on the train....avoiding eye contact.

But we'd made eye contact. Certainly by mistake, each mistaken in our perception of what we were looking at. We looked at each other eye-to-eye. Once I figured it out, I smiled at her.

This woman sort of drew herself up, it seemed to me, a little defensively, but then changed her mind and gave back the tiniest, little pinched smile before looking away as I did also. Our trains didn't leave right away, though, either of them. I glanced back at her a few times and she at me, still tightly held together and with that same little pinched smile.

Then one of the trains started to go....it's hard to tell which one...and as I glanced back at this old woman, she looked over, and then, she waved at me. I waved back, of course, but it really, really surprised and thrilled me that she'd beat me to the punch and she had waved first. So touching, so touched. A very small and brief moment really, but still....

Reflections.....

The train beside me.....though not the same woman....