Do you use public transport on a regular basis? I was resistant at first but after I landed a position in downtown Montreal the only option was travelling in to work by train.

This morning was like any other crisp morning waiting for the train to arrive. As the train came to an abrupt stop I took my place in the queue to get on board. I sat down across from a woman that was sleeping. I find the movement of the train especially relaxing and I often fight falling asleep. Two seats in front of me a woman is talking loudly to her friend about a colleague at work. She explains that she has had enough of this colleague and that she is now intentionally being mean and spiteful to her colleague. I wondered how she would react if by chance someone who knew her colleague was sitting behind her. A cell phone with a ring tone from the movie Jaws brought me back to life. A man three seats behind me answers. What motivates people to choose their specific ring tones? My ring tone sounds like a phone and my objective is just for me to hear it ring before it goes to voicemail. I think I might be the exception here edging on logic and conservatism. An elderly man enters at the next station and takes a seat across from me. He has halitosis. I feel a surge of oatmeal cereal rise up in my throat as he yawns loudly. How does he not smell himself? I swallow hastily and search for a fresh breath of air. At the next station an elderly thin man takes up the last seat next to me. He is murmuring to himself as he sits down. He stares out the window and his murmurs become a bit more audible. He is speaking French. After living and working in the Montreal area for 11 years, I still do not speak French. I dread that he might talk to me. Ah yes, he does. He turns to me and explains something about a building we just passed. I think this is what the topic was about as he was pointing to the building, or was he pointing at a bird? Anyway, I nodded knowingly and said “Oui” which means yes in French. At least I know the basics like yes and no. I should not have done this as he continues to explain his plight to me earnestly seeking my feedback. I stared at him with a dumb look on my face and my head tilted to one side. I think he must have thought I was some whacko so he stopped talking to me. We stopped at the 2^nd last station. Now there is thankfully only 7 minutes to go before the last station where I will leap out and kiss the ground.

Before the train even pulled away to the last station, ten people get up and queue at the exit door. This baffles me. Why choose to stand up and risk hurting yourself while the train is moving just to be part of the queue. I study the various travellers in the queue. They range in age, gender weight and height. I desperately try to find a connection. Maybe they are all catching the same bus to another destination and the connection is tight. They remind me of my last trip to Toronto by plane. As the plane stopped moving about 100 passengers hurdled themselves out of their seats, grabbed their carry-ons and appeared like racehorses ready to be released for an important race. But, as on every plane trip, the door only opens when it opens and not a moment sooner. Yet these people choose to stand in the queue even if they have to wait twice as long as the other travellers still sitting comfortably in their seats. Reminds me of my years in school. There were always those kids that had to be first in line no matter the cost. And here they are all lined up next to me, just grown up. This particular train stops in front of the Bell Center. Even if you try to miss your stop here, you are unable to do so as the train cannot go any further. I rule this motivation out as their cause. As the train utters its last metal scraping breaths and comes to a halt, the thin man and myself get up. We cut the queue as we were sitting close to the exit door. I hastily walk towards my work passing many of the eager queue standers. Now it does not seem to matter anymore.

In the end as the snappy air clears my head I see the connection between the queue standers. They are all human. Humans have a need to belong to something, whether it is a group, a company, a logo or a queue. Some people have a greater need for this than others. They do not want to be left behind. They do not want to be alone. Humans are not designed to exist in isolation. This afternoon will be yet another adventure when I make my way home.