Birkenstock Feelings

When I created this blog my main goal was to write about things people could relate to. The rule I made for myself was to never complain about anything, beacuse who wants to read that? But today I think I might make an exception to that rule because I feel what I have to say can be related to by many (or perhaps I'm just in a people-hater mood, but oh well...).
As I was riding home on the train this past weekend I had the pleasure of sitting next to a very unique woman. She was short with shoulder length gray hair that hung limply to her face.She had no wrinkles around her eyes at all but she had considerable wrinkles that highlighted the area around her mouth. She was dressed in a way that I desribe as the "Northwest style", which includes zip off cargo pants, Birkenstocks, an old college sweatshirt, and a trusty back pack stocked with healthy snacks. Although she never formally introduced herself to me I feel as though I know just about everything that has been recently going on in her family. She first caught my attention when I saw a pen in her hand busying itself over a leather bound book sprawled open across her lap. When I looked farther down the page I caught a glance of a date and assumed the writing underneath was an entry. I thought to myself, "who writes in a diary anymore, let alone at the age of 50+ years old." But, as I do keep a blog I suppose I have no room to judge, right? Anyway, after about five minutes she started to talk to the man next to her, which I assumed was her husband, and if not then I'd have felt immensely sorry for this fellow. This woman started to delve deeply into the dynamics of her family. All of which included a recent death and a will that was being fought over; a step mother who keeps kicking her sister out of the house because of her life choices; the fact that she is the only one that anyone in her entire family will talk to about anything; and the way that she is very open to all of them and wants to solve problems by talking about her feelings but can't understand why nobody else wants to do the same. At that moment my situation felt like one of those instances where there I saw something really gross, but no matter what it was impossible to look away. Because I mean I really, really wanted to turn my attention elsewhere but as my ipod was dead and my phone had no service I was stuck listening to every word she said. And this is where I'm going to complain... I am sure this woman is very nice and has a good heart blah, blah, blah. But as I am so unlike her in the department of sharing deep feelings outloud in public I found it extremely invasive when I was literally stuck listening to what she had to say about her family. The man next to her was a particularly good sounding board though, there was no noise from him what so ever and I have a feeling she picked up on his apathy when, to top everything off, she asked, "Any thoughts, feelings, questions about this?" and his reply was, " Uh... yeah, you're a good sister." It was all I could do to stop from laughing out loud. And this returns me to my point; it is extremely important to talk about things that are on your mind, especially to those who love you and care about you. However, where the line needs to be drawn is when you're out in public. I was a victim to the circumstances, I had no choice but to hear what she was saying and I can gaurantee you that knowledge did not change my life. So people please, next time you are out and about and something is eating away in your mind and you feel as though you need to get it out, then by all means do! Just don't do it when you are stuck in a public place where those around you can't give you the privacy you deserve.