Why the metro is like a petri dish for cute moments between people
I always find myself meeting new people here and being thrown into this particular situation. You meet up with a larger group of people, and after all the bisoux and warm wishes at the fork in the road, you are greeted with the "oh you are catching this line too?" and end up forced into making small talk with someone who actually, in reality, is a complete stranger.
But I have come to like it.
Some of the best people I've met here and have come to really enjoy spending time with have been the ones I get thrown on a metro with. We make small talk first. Follow and cross off all the repeated phrases (what do you study, where are you from, how long are you here for, where are you living, do you want to give me money, etc etc...) but there comes a point where you're either grazing shoulders on the fold outs or knocking knees in the small leg space of opposite facing seats and the conversation switches to something more interesting.
The next thing you know, it's one person or the other's stop and you're exchanging kisses and the doors are closing behind you and you wonder if what you said warranted enough for another cute-meet.
Et alors, another opportunity later arises and you will see them at a party or gathering or bashing their hand quietly yelling "putain!" at the coffee vending machine when it won't accept their 2 euro coin and you realise that you've established something pretty cool just by getting over the awkwardness of a 10 minute train ride and jumping on in to conversation and perhaps into a great friendship.
The metro holds many cute moments for me - memories of complete strangers and their interactions with their friends, and with other strangers, and with the music in their ears and the words in their books and the twiddling of their thumbs as they wait for something bigger to happen.
Tonight, I saw a French guy I had met through friends of mine at a restaurant opening last week, and pinched his elbow as we crossed past each other on and off the train, and just before the doors closed we exchanged a kiss and a "Ça va?" and then the doors and the conversation came to a close as quickly as it had opened.
Nothing was or is meant by these moments, but it is these little moments on the metro that are my favourites. They will determine how your day starts or ends and we should always be left with a fond memory of something as we go about our daily business and lives.
