Turmoil on the bus.

This morning, I was sitting on the bus and listening to my podcast when I saw across the crowded aisle a woman of about my age. She seemed to be in a good enough mood (enough for the crazy commute time of the morning) and then she got a phone call. I watched her face fall and her eyes start to fill with tears. She hastily hung up and sat there, in the middle of the crowded bus.

If anyone hadn't watched the change in her face, they might not have known that she was upset, but I saw it all happen and I could tell. I wanted so much to just put my hand on her shoulder, or even wish her a good day as we got off the bus at the same stop, but I was already transgressing societal guidelines enough to keep looking at her as often as I did. More than once our eyes met and I was so embarrassed, and then so completely angry that I needed to be embarrassed for caring about another person.

I really don't like the fact that this culture lays out all these rules. If you don't know someone, a stranger, they may as well not be a person. You're only allowed to talk to and be there for people that you know, unless extreme circumstances present themselves. Man. It's so isolating. And it frustrated me this morning.

And now, without much of a transition, here are a few pictures from a walk we took last night: