March 15, 2022
On the Subway
For the last two years, taking transit has been a disconcerting experience. And not even because of Covid risk—I don’t think public transit is a major factor in spread, in spite of that one obnoxious guy without a mask whose thighs are spread across two seats every subway car. But there has just been something off with the vibe—some people who are frightening and aggressive, others suffering from mental illness. Like, if you travelled on the streetcar and nobody was bleeding from a flesh wound, it counts as a good day. On transit, like everywhere, it’s been a long two years.
But yesterday something was different. I can’t say what it was exactly. All the signs on seats encouraging physical distance had been removed and people were crowded together, which you’d think might have made things worse, but it didn’t, especially since everyone was still wearing masks (except, obviously, that one guy). Perhaps it was just the fact of more ordinary people being out and about again, but it was just pleasant. With the signs for distance removed, I could stand up on the bus and offer my seat to an older woman, and she could refuse it, and we could both travel standing to the subway stop, leaving the seat empty, a very Canadian arrangement.
She got on the subway car with us—she’d been confused about which way to travel, and we gave her directions. Some other kind person gave up their seat so my children could sit down, and I stood alongside them watching a small child behind them formed her fingers into the shape of a heart, and began directing the shape at people all around her, including our friend from the bus. And then the woman and her son across from her, and then up at me, and I waved back, told my daughters to turn around and see.
The little girl had a doll inside her jacket, its face poking out. She kept making hearts, and then circles, and triangles—she knew all the shapes, and pretty soon she was friends with everyone in her proximity. We reminded our bus friend to get off at Yonge, and she thanked us, said goodbye to the little girl. And then when the little girl got off at St. George, everybody said good bye to her, waving out the windows, and then we all smiled at each other, all of us connected, and feeling a little bit better about the world.
