No room on the quiet car (JLH)

I'm M's friend JLH and she's going to let me post my thought from time to time. Please don't hold her responsible for any of my entries; our politics and writing styles are polar opposites.  Anything more about me you want to know, just ask.

Here's my first post (It sounds like fiction, but it actually happened on Friday's Acela).

No room on the quiet car.

I sat down across from a college kid at a 4-seater table. He asked me if the café car was open. I waived him in that direction and noticed that he was exceedingly young. This was why his return with a 2 classmates and BEER was a surprise. They were going home to the upper east side for Shabbat dinner/Rosh Hashanah and didn’t want to arrive sober. In fact they were planning to go out to a club ("get a table" as they put it) later that evening. I couldn’t decide whether I was in awe or disgust, but I leaned toward the latter as I listened to them describe their pot use and failed sexual exploits.

The first frosh noticed a girl and bragged to his friends that he could get her to join them. On his friend’s advice, he adjusted his jacket to hide a chest zit. She walked by and he went with the classic "don’t I know you?" and - - It worked, she replied that he looked familiar and accepted the invitation for a seat. I was impressed and giggled aloud. Amazingly, she did not seem put off by his inane bragging of lax study habits, smoking and clubbing or the fact that he could not learn her name even after asking 3 times. When she reported her destination, he actually said "I thought you looked like a jersey Girl". She was not put off when he asked if she was going home for the Jewish Holidays, and she said she was Italian, but rather pursued his random course of conversation until taking out his fake ID to buy her a beer.

The friends of my new hero tried to make conversation and finally asked the most basic question; why are you going to New Jersey. She replied- "to see my boyfriend." They went silent and I was screaming "BURN" in my mind. I like this girl.

Comments

[MD]

I like her too.

*BuRNS always remind me of the seventies show....Ashton Kutcher going, "buuuurrrrn....." This probably makes sense to about three people.

[Tatyana]

Would you believe it, M, if I tell you it would make a perfect sense to my son, born in 1986? A big, big fan.

glad to see your guest blogger, M.
Still, could it be that they continue to be understaffed? Buuuuurnnn....