strangers no more

I made a new friend on the bus today. He was in his late twenties, built big & heavy (although he didn't look overweight), with dark hair tucked under a black felt hat, and wearing a matching black felt coat. He was reading "Kafka for Beginners."

The only empty seat on the bus was beside him. As I sat down, he uncrossed his legs so that his shoe wouldn't rest against my leg, and said a quick, "Sorry." I replied with a simple "That's okay." And, just like that, we became friends. It was like the opposite of creepy man vibes.

Several stops later, he said, "Hey, those are really neat pants." (He was, of course, referring to my awesome pants of metal and straps...if you know me, you should know which ones I'm talking about.) So we had a quick chat about where I got them and why. Then we fell in to a non-awkward silence while we each continued to read our books.

When he got off, he said thank you to the bus driver (a peculiar habit of many Vancouverites), and then we made eye contact and gave each other a nod and a "Seeya!" and that was all. I like making friends on the bus!