Dear Diary:
What is it about riding the bus that makes some of us wax philosophical Maybe the rush-hour crush of bodies squeezes thoughts that had been brewing in us all day out of our brains.
I usually keep my thoughts to myself. But every now and then, I run into a public speaker who might have given Socrates a run for his money.
One frigid night on the Q26 in Forest Hills, a jolly, portly middle-aged woman tried to make conversation with anyone in her vicinity near the front of the bus. Who was watching the Golden Globes tonight Like most of the other passengers, I quickly tuned out.
But then the woman burst out laughing, apparently at a remark of her own, making someone next to her ask: What’s so funny
“What, I can’t laugh in publicâ€
“I was just wondering…â€
“Why does everyone want to laugh with you when you’re laughing, but no one wants to go near you when you’re cryingâ€
Most in the woman’s now more attentive audience shrugged.I did, too. But I’ve been trying to figure her question out many a cold night on the Q26 since.
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