Got cheese?
I've been missing here on LJ, on-the-road a lot the past couple of months and it ain't over yet.
A little story here, then, from the road:
I travel first-class on the train system here in Sweden. Not because I'm hoity-toity like that, but because my employer buys me a year's pass on the train and first class service is included with that benefit.
When you're in the Stockholm or Göteborg stations you can, with your first class ticket, gain entry to a nice lounge where you can sit in a comfy chair and have some free snacks, tea or coffee while you wait to go out and board your train. You don't usually have to show your ticket to get in - the doors are locked but almost every time I go in there I come in as someone else is on the way out. Only once have I been asked to show proof that I had a right to be there.
Yesterday I was in the lounge at the Stockholm station. My train was delayed (oh! what a surprise! she said wearily) and I had settled deeply into one of the comfy chairs with a crossword puzzle magazine. The room was full with what appeared to be other business travellers waiting for the 5 o-clockish train back home from Stockholm.
And then.
I was totally into my crossword puzzle when a very human smell caught my attention. Stale urine blended with essence of body odor. I looked up and caught the eye of the man who had taken a seat beside me. He took advantage of the moment to ask if I'd mind watching his backpack while he went to get a snack. I said I'd be glad to and he walked away.
After a few minutes he came back and I got a better look at him as he approached his seat. Long hair, scruffy beard, black stuff under his very long fingernails. He'd kept his jacket on and there were holes in it where the stuffing was poking out. He was clearly a different kind of traveller in that room full of expensive suits, computer bags and iPhones.
He was carrying a small plate. When he sat down he put it on the little tray area between our seats. I glanced down at the plate to make sure my elbows were clear and did a double take. My neighbor was obviously a fan of brie cheese. Normally a person would take a small slice of the stuff with a couple of crackers. He had taken two huge slices - two quarter rounds of brie. At first I thought he'd found cake somewhere and taken two large cake slices, but the odor of the cheese at my elbow was unmistakable.
Before sitting down he asked if I was going to be there a little bit longer so he could go get a little more from the snack table. I hope my face didn't reveal my thoughts when I answered that I'd be sitting there quite a bit longer.
He came back with a plate piled with two more quarter rounds of brie (which was most likely all of the brie cheese the train company had put out) and a pile of crackers and a full bunch of grapes. It was more food than I'd eaten all day.
He got himself all settled with cheese to the left and cheese to the right. Then he started taking quick suspicious looks at me and I buried myself into my crossword puzzle.
He took a newspaper from the table in front of us and used it as a shield while he quickly emptied plate number one into his backpack. Looked at me to see if I had noticed. I hadn't. In with plate number two, swoosh. Then he stuffed the newspaper into that gigantic backpack, stood up and rushed out of the lounge.
Now it is of course possible that he had a first class ticket and a train to catch. That he got his plates of snacks and then looked at the clock and thought, "oh, goodness, time flies, gotta run, guess I'll take my snacks with me". But really, probably not. And, if not, if he was someone without a first class ticket or the means to get one, I have to applaud his problem solving skills and hope that he actually does like brie cheese for dinner. And I hope he has a warm place to tuck himself into after filling his tummy with the yummy. If his food gathering skills are any measure then I'm pretty sure he's got a creative sleeping solution as well.
I hope so.
A little story here, then, from the road:
I travel first-class on the train system here in Sweden. Not because I'm hoity-toity like that, but because my employer buys me a year's pass on the train and first class service is included with that benefit.
When you're in the Stockholm or Göteborg stations you can, with your first class ticket, gain entry to a nice lounge where you can sit in a comfy chair and have some free snacks, tea or coffee while you wait to go out and board your train. You don't usually have to show your ticket to get in - the doors are locked but almost every time I go in there I come in as someone else is on the way out. Only once have I been asked to show proof that I had a right to be there.
Yesterday I was in the lounge at the Stockholm station. My train was delayed (oh! what a surprise! she said wearily) and I had settled deeply into one of the comfy chairs with a crossword puzzle magazine. The room was full with what appeared to be other business travellers waiting for the 5 o-clockish train back home from Stockholm.
And then.
I was totally into my crossword puzzle when a very human smell caught my attention. Stale urine blended with essence of body odor. I looked up and caught the eye of the man who had taken a seat beside me. He took advantage of the moment to ask if I'd mind watching his backpack while he went to get a snack. I said I'd be glad to and he walked away.
After a few minutes he came back and I got a better look at him as he approached his seat. Long hair, scruffy beard, black stuff under his very long fingernails. He'd kept his jacket on and there were holes in it where the stuffing was poking out. He was clearly a different kind of traveller in that room full of expensive suits, computer bags and iPhones.
He was carrying a small plate. When he sat down he put it on the little tray area between our seats. I glanced down at the plate to make sure my elbows were clear and did a double take. My neighbor was obviously a fan of brie cheese. Normally a person would take a small slice of the stuff with a couple of crackers. He had taken two huge slices - two quarter rounds of brie. At first I thought he'd found cake somewhere and taken two large cake slices, but the odor of the cheese at my elbow was unmistakable.
Before sitting down he asked if I was going to be there a little bit longer so he could go get a little more from the snack table. I hope my face didn't reveal my thoughts when I answered that I'd be sitting there quite a bit longer.
He came back with a plate piled with two more quarter rounds of brie (which was most likely all of the brie cheese the train company had put out) and a pile of crackers and a full bunch of grapes. It was more food than I'd eaten all day.
He got himself all settled with cheese to the left and cheese to the right. Then he started taking quick suspicious looks at me and I buried myself into my crossword puzzle.
He took a newspaper from the table in front of us and used it as a shield while he quickly emptied plate number one into his backpack. Looked at me to see if I had noticed. I hadn't. In with plate number two, swoosh. Then he stuffed the newspaper into that gigantic backpack, stood up and rushed out of the lounge.
Now it is of course possible that he had a first class ticket and a train to catch. That he got his plates of snacks and then looked at the clock and thought, "oh, goodness, time flies, gotta run, guess I'll take my snacks with me". But really, probably not. And, if not, if he was someone without a first class ticket or the means to get one, I have to applaud his problem solving skills and hope that he actually does like brie cheese for dinner. And I hope he has a warm place to tuck himself into after filling his tummy with the yummy. If his food gathering skills are any measure then I'm pretty sure he's got a creative sleeping solution as well.
I hope so.