Come all Muggles Young and Old!!!

Lately they have been moving us into only 4 cars for the journey past Gary, when they used to give us 6 cars to spread out through. It seems the muggle population has been on the downswing ever since school got back into session. Usually this repreave lasts until Thanksgivingish, when, much like the swallows of Capastrano, the annual return of the muggles to the shopping malls occurs. Well it turns out Monday was a day of quality, not quantity when it came to our muggles.

We moved up a couple of cars from our usual seats to avoid getting cut off in Gary. As we settled into our seats, I sat across from two old ladies, and across the aisle from a mom, kid and another female relative. Within seconds of sitting down, the train makes a sidetrack switch, the train then lurches sideways, and the 4ish year old kid promptly takes a header into the floor. (I gave it a 7.8 out of 10. Personally, I thought it was a nice manuver, but there was no blood, so that is an instant deduction) The kid looks up at her mom with the widest eyes, not knowing whether to be hurt or not. The mom looks down at the kid, then quickly at all of the eyes staring at the little daredevil, before announcing to everyone.

"Oh She's all right"

Then instantly the tear factory opened up for business, as the kid let out a wail that would scare a gordita away from a free chocolate buffet.

And to my delight, that was only the beginning...

Remember the old ladies? Well lets just say that watching the paint try would have been a step up from their conversations. The one right across from me was obviously the boss of the two, as she talked about 95% of the time, all except for the 5 % of the time that the other one was agreeing with her. The wimpy one was actually the funniest looking, having the ultrahigh magnification glasses, that looked remarkably like seeing into a microscope. Anyways, here are some coversation samples.

"Well my right arm is feeling better than it did on Friday. It really hurt on Friday, then felt a little better on Saturday, then it felt a little better on Sunday, and it feels a little better today."

Damn I wonder how that arm felt on Tuesday, or maybe even [gasp]Wednesday

"Wow a woman conductor, you don't see that everyday. Ooh and she seems like she knows what she is doing"

Gee Wally, how is the Beaver anyway?

"Oh shoot I missed the name on the sign going into the last stop. I wish the train wouldn't go so fast, so that I can read the signs. Now I have no idea where I am"

OK, that's just too easy, I have pride you know...

Quiet Old Lady "Do you have a bump like this?"

Blathering Old Lady "Here let me feel that... Oh that's arthritis, I have that too, here feel this. Yeah when you get to be ancient like I am, you have all kinds of problems"

And being able to diagnose medical problems, sure doesn't seem to be one of those problems. Maybe we can put her to work to save our medical system? Think about how much money we could save without doctors???

It was about at that point, that I had to get up and leave. I guess score one for the muggles to get me to leave. Oye ve.