I’ve taken the train from Newburyport to Boston for three-to-five days per week for over a year now, and I’ve noticed that the same people tend to sit with me each day. We don’t get on or off at the same stops, but there is a small club that hunt me down just to sit next to me. We’ve never spoken, we’ve never even really made eye-contact, but they must recognize me. They must, I recognize them. (More on that in a minute.)
Over this past year and change I’ve often wondered: why do these people sit with me? I must look particularly non-threatening.
Is It The Clothes?
I tend to wear something pretty similar each day: a hoodie, jeans and a hat. I have a beard that will vary in length. (Yes, I recognize that this is the uniform for the web developer that just doesn’t care about fashion; that describes me to a tee.) I tend to have my headphones in. I’m probably using my iPad or iPhone.
Are these things status symbols of a person that wants no trouble? Do people just like things that are familiar? Would these people find me odd if I introduced myself to them? I don’t want to — train time is my time — but what if I did?
What Would I Do?
Another way to look at this: if I didn’t get on and off at the end of the line each way, would I sit with these same people? Would I find my own club of approved people? How would I judge the people that I’m sitting next to?
I imagine that I would try to target seats by looking ahead and seeing who was in the vicinity. Do these people do that with me; do they recognize my hat and set their sights on my seat?
I’m An Excellent [Passenger]
I find that in particular, I try my best not to upset the people around me in public. I hold the door open for people, I say a genuine thank you when they hold it open for me. I don’t get up to use the restroom (which, by the way, applies to how I am on airplanes and in movie theaters as well). I’m quiet, only answering the occasional call from Scarlette. Maybe these people have been “seat-dating” other people for years and I’m highly desirable in that sense.
Why It Matters
It doesn’t matter at this point. It’s all plainly arbitrary, but it’s interesting to consider. What if things changed?
Could these people help in times of crisis? Could they verify an alibi? Could they pick me out of a crowd? If at some point I leave my job, or happened into a position where I didn’t we’d to take the train anymore, would these people miss me?
These aren’t the single-serving friends that Jack thought about in Fight Club. Maybe they don’t recognize me and it’s just coincidence. Is it the coffee shop paradox? (That being, when you recognize a cashier at a particular shop that you frequent, but they never seem to recognize you even though it seems like they should at least be able to remember your face.)
A Bizarre Idea
What if whoever got to an empty set of seats first could effectively “own” them for that train ride? For example, we could charge sit-next-to-me fees which would vary based upon neighborly desirability, regulated by supply and demand (and sanity).
I would fetch a decent fee, maybe up to $5 per ride. That may seem steep, but I bring a pretty good package to the table. My scent isn’t offensive, I don’t talk to you, I won’t be getting off the train before you (which may be a downside if whoever is left “inherits” the seat), I’ll only sometimes take pictures of other people, and I compact reasonably well so that we can even fit a third person in here if we needed to.
I would probably raise the third-person-in-the-seat rate to $10. If the second person in was also of nice compatibility to a three-way-seating, I’d probably tip them a couple bucks depending on the length of the trip.
If that system is too out there, I wouldn’t mind a full-on tipping system. If I was enjoyable sitting next to on your ride, throw me a couple dollars. Maybe that’s unbalanced since I’m almost always on the inside. On the other hand, I don’t really get to choose who it’s next to me. I’m constantly making lemonade out of the lemons that sit with me.
Or maybe I do get to choose who sits next to me because of the subconscious vibes that I put out. Either way, I haven’t figured out how to control it.
Yet.
