I’m sitting on a train that will depart a few minutes later than scheduled. A couple in their mid-fifties sits across the aisle and the woman complains about how bad this all is and how idiotic the bus driver was who brought them here and how the reservation labels are all wrong (hint: it’s a replacement train). My first reaction is irritation about all that negative energy, but in a way I feel drawn to listen.
The woman is ugly in her wild fury. She constantly turns to her husband for affirmation, who finds refuge in stoicism. As soon as the conductor arrives, she starts harassing him, and when finally nobody is there to listen to her bitching, she frantically starts making phone calls to make everybody aware of her plight.
What exactly motivates these people? What makes them think the whole world turns around them or, if it does not, it is their god-given right to complain?
After a few minutes of amusement I decide I can’t bear it any more. “Anything Could Happen” and “JOY” by Ellie Goulding help me get back into something like spiritual balance. Shall I call it my Song of the Day?
Juha Haataja (2015-08-17)
I just read the novel "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins, in which a mentally unstable alcoholic woman rides the train and watches people, making up stories about them. Not a pleasant story, but it hooks the reader. Rather fine composition, with a center.
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