I got on the tram around 7:30 on a Friday morning. That’s
when things start to get busy, so the tram was fairly full. There was a good
looking tall dark haired fellow who was on the tram, and moved over to stand
near me (by the door). He was holding an umbrella because it’s that time of
year. He got a book out of his pocket to read. Since the tram was full, at the
next stop I snuck a bit deeper into the aisle between doorways – and grabbed a
spot next to an attractive, dark haired young woman who was leaning on the
expandable accordion seam in the wall where the tram bends around corners. This
is a desirable spot because you can sort of recline or sit on the bendy bits,
which are made of some kind of sturdy rubberized fabric.
At the next, stop, the dark haired guy had come up behind
me, and asked the dark haired woman if she minded if he tucked his umbrella
into the accordion folds near her, so he could have a hand for his book, and a
hand free to hang on. (The tram has signs in it that say “you never know, so
don’t let go” and they mean it.) Thus began a conversation between the three of
us, and then mostly the two of them, about how the tram was more crowded on Fridays at that time than other days of the week, and how she was in his usual spot, and the taboo about talking to
strangers, and what a risk taker this fellow was for talking to a stranger and
asking to stash his umbrella. “Not that much of a risk,” he said. “What’s the
worst that could happen?” “I could have told you no, you can’t put your
umbrella there.” “Yep, that’s the worst that could happen – not much of a
risk.” (And I thought, and the best outcome is that you get her number.) “Well, it’s a bit of a risk,” she said. “People in Melbourne aren’t very
friendly.” There was a lull in our chat. He dropped something out of his book, which I mentioned so he could
grab it. It was a footy ticket – which led him to tell us it was from a GRAND FINAL (i.e., the championships),
so she asked if he was from Melbourne, “of course” he said. They
bantered a bit about keeping your balance on the tram, and she gave him a hard
time about his skills set for a resume, (talks to strangers, has moderate balancing
skills). She kept dropping the hints about unfriendly people in Melbourne. I
wished them both a good day when I got off at my stop, and they did the same.
As I left the tram I heard him ask “So where are you from then?” About time you picked that one up, my friend.
Seems like conversation on the tram has the potential for
romance. Who knew? Perhaps that's why very few people talk...
