Beagles speeding through DC

I really love people. I like the way suddenly something brings out the innocent reaction. The way people one minute completely detached from each other can all grin at an inconsequential incongruence.

One of favourite parts of yesterday was my ride home on the metro. I was alone, how I often want to be speeding through a dark city. The carriage was quite full, people tired, staring ahead, contemplating and meditating.

Then a guy got on with two beagles in a pull-along bag. Yes, two dogs curled up together in a mesh oblong bag which had a pull-up handle so you could wheel it along. I did not actually see this bag until he wheeled it off the train, with it careening, almost crashing, as he turned to walk down the platform.

Before that I just saw him standing at the front, everyone staring in the direction of his feet. People surreptitiously kissing their lips against their teeth, clicking -- convinced perhaps that they have that special connection with the dogs...if only the wretched animal would look at me...

And then a baby in a pushchair, obviously much less interested in the dog at the end of a long day than his mum-- "oh he really loves dogs, don't you really love dogs..." ... "oh look...oh there are two of them."

And everyone's face with a slight smile, with a hint of a laugh, eyes suddenly alive. The person sitting next to me became my partner in jest, her shoulders dropped, we escaped from the march of a regimented city commute.

And at such moments I look up and smile. I cannot help but giggle. I love people! Two beagles and not one of us can maintain a straight face.

In general, I quite like the metro, especially later in the day. I have been cared for by a stranger before, been woken up before my stop and told to go to sleep again with a promise of a wake-up nudge. I have met many an eye, just for a moment. Like yesterday someone calmly walking through the door, I swear he must have been a ghost. He walked so calmly through just as the door was closing. Everyone else would have run through, immediately turning round to face the enemy, make sure their tail was not caught in the door. But he just kept going so smoothly, right on through. Until he saw me laugh and his face then broke into a smile of relief...So he was human after all.