right about the time i was thinking, i wish i had business-sized cards that said “please shut up because you’re annoying”; or, “you are definitely part of the problem, not part of the solution”; or, “really, you don’t need to talk so loud on your phone”; cards that i could hand out to people on the train after work, right about that time, the woman next to me closed her book, turned to me and asked, “are you having a good day?” and this was stunning and annoying and profound, all at the same time (wouldn’t that be good on a business-sized card). because there i was, all tired and zonked out from an afternoon of too much paper copying and too many file assembly, there i was all living in my head and getting annoyed at people i don’t even know, thinking about how someone should shush that baby crying already, and am i going to be able to get out of this train without bumping into everyone, and here was this woman totally in the moment, completely sincere, asking me such a simple, true question. and it was so real and nice. and i thought about my answer: “yeah. i’m glad it’s over. at least the work part” and asked her about her day and so on and so forth. and she recommended the book she was reading (called “captivating”) and then she disappeared off the train. i thought maybe i’d imagined her but then i saw her again at the crosswalk. she went north, i went east.