Often when I feel inspired to write about my travels I’ll highlight a distant place I rarely see and long to remember. Today though my travels took me to the same place I always go and sometimes need to escape. There may be nothing less inspiring than a commuter rail train where passengers waddle like drones and drop their heads as if already defeated before the day begins. Almost universally you will find them wrapped in electronic cocoons punctuated by white antennas that bud out from their ears. A silent dance begins with the singular goal of maintaining the greatest distance from anyone else despite the reality that with each stop the masses will swell and personal space will be negated. We wiz by marshland and abandoned factories but no one is looking outside to notice or contemplate.
For my own part I sit and read the Times, focusing in on a slide show about Herat and the tenuous progress being made there. To me the images barely suggest survival let alone a hint of modernity. Afghanistan seems immeasurably more distant than miles between us and I can’t fathom the reality of actually being there. Who could even begin to connect with the faces in front me? And that’s when it happened: I looked up and found reality closer than expected.
The guy sitting next to me is the only one around not bathed in blue light. He’s large, very large and has his hair cut high and tight. He’s mumbling silently and thumbing through an actual book with real pages. He seems focused. The book has an odd script and he is going over the same line again and again. I realize quickly that it’s Arabic and clearly not his native tongue. Though I never ask I wonder to myself if he has already seen combat. I wonder when he is going back.
It is Thanksgiving week here in the States and most of us will be easing off work a bit. The commuter trains will empty into regional rails and long backups on the highways. Meanwhile this soldier will head off to war and try to bridge a culture divide of immense proportions. We never talked, but I wish him well and will remember what I am truly thankful for this week.