Hélène à Paris

metro - together alone



the metro makes me feel ambivalent.
sometimes, i have to laugh, for example when someone performs in the metro. the other day, a group of the three yogis, 2 men and a woman, got in. they started playing tambourine and singing a mantra. they had all long hair and looked very hippie. the woman had a basket of cookies which she gave around, so everyone could take one - i was too scared, though. the group didn't want any money, they just wanted to gives us "good vibes".
other times, you just feel kind of lonely and lost in the metro. there's probably no other place were the anonymity is so present. once, that anonymity was funny, though: i wanted to drive home from babysitting and waited at the metro station. when the metro arrived, it was so full, hardly anyone could get in. still, me and some others squeezed in. i couldn't even hold on to a pole, on anything, i was stuck in between bodies. you felt the bodyshape and warmth or your neibhbours. at the same time, noone looked you in the eye. there, we were standing: so close to each other, but still strangers. we were forced to cuddle, but tried to ignore it. i found that circumstance hilarious and had to smile.