Mare Hay

Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 7:40 a.m.

There was a woman with some baggage standing by the bus stop near the Berwyn stop who appeared to be panhandling ... she was mumbling. I assume that her repeating "Mare Hay" was her version of "Spare Change".

On the train was a large, young man with long unruly hair. On his t-shirt was a skull but the teeth looked like a comb. He had written on his knuckles "KARE" on his right hand and "BEAR" on his left. How handy to be ambidextrous.

I got on the train and there were two seats. I chose the one closest being lazy and tired, not wanting to walk the extra few steps to the other seat. There was a man who appeared to be a little slow-witted. He insisted on wearing his backpack while being seated on the train which pushed into my side of the seat.

He was very twitchy the whole ride and at one point stared at me while I read my book for the duration of two stops. He dropped something and exclaimed "Sorry." When we pulled out of the Grand stop, he exclaimed "Excuse me" and bolted for the door with his backpack. I heard him shouting a bit by the door - more like yelps than actual words.

When we both got off of Lake, I saw him ahead of me on the street. When he stopped at the corner, he was doing a little dance which was a mix of happy, distressed or having to pee.