Conversations on the train...

...can be bizarre, to say the least. On a recent trip to london while taking the loooooong overground train south to Carshalton, I found myself sitting opposite what looked like an ordinary old english couple. After about ten minutes or so of the old lady blabbing on the phone and me turning the volume up on my walkman, I yawned, and she said:
"Do you know why people do that?"
"Do what?", I said
"Yawn when other people yawn", she answered.
"Oh...erm...no"
"Neither do I".
And so we all laughed, though I might add I was a bit bewildered because her tone implied that her initial question was rhetorical, and that she was going to enlighten me with some knowledge. She did add afterwards that she used to know the answer to her question so perhaps she was just probing the stranger in front of her to help recall that absent piece of information.

Anyway, she continued to talk, more at me than to me, and it occurred that the presence of my earphones didn't phase her at all so I removed them out of courtesy, slightly miffed that what had begun as a brief disturbance was taking me completely from my music. The conversation moved onto global warming, somehow, and again she asked what seemed like a rhetorical question regarding the subject and went on to venture her own theory. I can't remember her exact words but after some monologue about how everything in life runs in cycles and that the earth is no different, she said that all the extreme weather that is often attributed to global warming was a result of the earth dying and nothing we can do will prevent the destruction of our planet. This felt like quite a poignant pearl of wisdom being passed on from one generation to the next, as she offered some hint at the time-scale of this event being not in her life time as she was gonna "pop her clogs soon".

Her husband was quiet and mostly just offered a few words of agreement here and there, almost as if he didn't want to encourage his wife, and then I found out why. I have absolutely no idea how or even if the conversation took its natural course, but this old lady decided she wanted to tell me about the health benefits of drinking one's own urine. Yes, thats right. I was embarrassed, confused, bewildered and highly amused all at once, and struggling in my mind to figure out why this information was being bestowed upon me. She said that drinking her own urine had cured her arthritis and that I should research it on the internet, which I have yet to do. Also, as an afterthought she added thats it goes well with ribena! I was on the verge of pissing myself (excuse the pun) with laughter when their stop arrived and her husband hurried his wife from the train and we parted with amicable farewells.

So I returned to my music feeling uplifted in my hungover sleep-deprived state from what was a very interesting encounter. I only hope that one day when I'm old I can have random conversations with complete strangers and impart such brilliant gems of knowledge upon them!