There was a group of young school girls sitting in the pods of four seats, some squeezed in, three to a pair. The girls looked so very young. Their uniforms were still new. Not just start-of-the-year new. They were start-of-high-school-career new. They wore them properly, having not yet developed bad habits and too-cool atttitudes.
The girls' school bags were very full. As soon as I noticed them I knew they were still taking home every text book they owned. The novelty of it hadn't worn off yet, or perhaps they were terrified of forgetting a piece of homework. Each girl also had a second bag, probably a sports bag.
My heart went out to them, when I saw the panicked look in their faces as they remembered being told they should always give up their seats for adults. I heard the whispers, we have to get up, get up.
The reality was, it would be so difficult to do. The effort and inconvenience for them and for those of us standing in the aisle would not have been worth it. We would have to dosey-doe around each other, the young girls attempting to keep hats on their heads and trying to stop their two, awkward and heavy bags from hitting others or getting caught at impossible angles. All the while, those in the aisle would be despearately searching for a new place to grip as our shuffling feet carried us away from our successfully won handholds.
I remember how cumbersome it was to be a high school student. So many accoutrements. So many rules. So many people who know more than you...don't they?
You no longer fit as a child and definitely not as an adult, but the new and strange world you found yourself in left you wishing for a safe space.
I told them not to worry, it wasn't a problem and that I was happy to stand. I wasn't in a dosey-doeing kind of mood.
At the next stop an older woman-older than me, that is-stepped on and ushered the girls out of their seats. The expected dance ensued, hushed and awkward, as the girls tried their earnest best to move themselves, their hats and two bags apiece into the already packed aisle.
Sometimes, I thought to myself, old fashioned courtesy gets in the way of just plain courtesy.
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