Tic-Tac-Toe
I was on the train to Paris yesterday and as I had barely made it for the train - I sprinted some 200m to the station upon hearing its toot-toot - I settled for standing in the last carriage.
The two end carriages of a Paris RER train are 3 by 3 metres square empty spaces with just a metallic pole down the middle. There are no seats there. They were designed to sardinepack as much people onto the train as possible during peak hours.
There weren't too many people on the train yesterday but 6 people still settled for standing - instead of finding a comfortable seat somewhere in the middle of the train - in the last carriage, me included. I made one corner of the carriage my spot and diagonally opposite me, at the other corner, was a man whom I shall affectionately name AM, short for Alcohol Man, as he had a bottle of alcohol with him. He would later conveniently dispose the bottle by dropping it onto the track at one of the station but his lack of civil responsibility will not be discussed here.
The other two corners of the carriage were occupied by two couples who were smooching much more affectionately than how I had named AM. Before I had arrived in Paris, I already knew public display of affection is pretty much the norm here. After being here for slightly more than 10 months, I can justify that the French indeed kiss more than another other nationalities in the world. Or perhaps this has nothing to do with the French but everything to do with Paris. It seems like every couple who comes to Paris, regarding of race, language or religion, makes it a point to share a kiss below Eiffel, beside the Pyramids or in fact, just about at any spot that territorially belongs to Paris.
Back to the two couples. They were putting on the most affectionate public display of affection I had ever seen since coming here. There were no hanky panky actually, nothing obscene, just pure smooching and dreamy looks into their respective partners' eyes. But love was undeniably in the air. I tried not looking at their public display of affection - which is not an easy task, as all guys can attest to - because PDA always makes for an enjoyable sight. But the two couples were smooching so loudly, as if they were competing against each other to see who can kiss the loudest and the winner would eventually walk away with a king-sized bed courtesy of the train company for what is to follow, that I can't keep my attention off them and think of something else, like...fractals=)
Anyway, for just a second, and I swear it was just a second, I thought that maybe AM and I should congregate in the middle of the carriage, where the pole was, to complete the tic-tac-toe.
I frightened myself.
The two end carriages of a Paris RER train are 3 by 3 metres square empty spaces with just a metallic pole down the middle. There are no seats there. They were designed to sardinepack as much people onto the train as possible during peak hours.
There weren't too many people on the train yesterday but 6 people still settled for standing - instead of finding a comfortable seat somewhere in the middle of the train - in the last carriage, me included. I made one corner of the carriage my spot and diagonally opposite me, at the other corner, was a man whom I shall affectionately name AM, short for Alcohol Man, as he had a bottle of alcohol with him. He would later conveniently dispose the bottle by dropping it onto the track at one of the station but his lack of civil responsibility will not be discussed here.
The other two corners of the carriage were occupied by two couples who were smooching much more affectionately than how I had named AM. Before I had arrived in Paris, I already knew public display of affection is pretty much the norm here. After being here for slightly more than 10 months, I can justify that the French indeed kiss more than another other nationalities in the world. Or perhaps this has nothing to do with the French but everything to do with Paris. It seems like every couple who comes to Paris, regarding of race, language or religion, makes it a point to share a kiss below Eiffel, beside the Pyramids or in fact, just about at any spot that territorially belongs to Paris.
Back to the two couples. They were putting on the most affectionate public display of affection I had ever seen since coming here. There were no hanky panky actually, nothing obscene, just pure smooching and dreamy looks into their respective partners' eyes. But love was undeniably in the air. I tried not looking at their public display of affection - which is not an easy task, as all guys can attest to - because PDA always makes for an enjoyable sight. But the two couples were smooching so loudly, as if they were competing against each other to see who can kiss the loudest and the winner would eventually walk away with a king-sized bed courtesy of the train company for what is to follow, that I can't keep my attention off them and think of something else, like...fractals=)
Anyway, for just a second, and I swear it was just a second, I thought that maybe AM and I should congregate in the middle of the carriage, where the pole was, to complete the tic-tac-toe.
I frightened myself.
posted by le chye at
2:31 AM
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