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1:25 p.m. - Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2003
Public Transit Lullaby
I fall into incredibly deep sleep on the train. It's partly the rocking motion of the train, and partly just the habit of 13+ years. Sometimes I awake with the feeling that I've just done something embarrassing. Last night, for example, I awoke with the suspicion that I had been elbowing the guy next to me in the ribs. He hadn't said anything, however, so I didn't know whether I really had — in which case I should apologize — or whether I had just dreamed it — in which case an unprovoked apology could only give him the sneaking suspicion that he was sitting next to a nutcase. I followed the path of least resistance and kept my mouth shut.
Speaking of keeping my mouth shut, sometimes I awake with the feeling that I've just been shouting in my sleep — only, of course, when you shout in your sleep, it doesn't come out as a shout; it comes out as a sort of "Gnnnnnuhhhhhhhhhh!!" Everytime that happens I trying to play it cool; I immediately start coughing, which means: "That funny noise I just made? Oh, I was trying to cough in my sleep! Some train-dust must have gotten into my air passages! That's all!"
I remember once waking suddenly from a nap at home, thinking I had just shouted in my sleep, to find all the dogs around me, staring at me with puzzled expressions. That must have been a very loud "Gnnnnnnuhhhhhh!" Poor doggies.
Of course, when you wake up on the train with drool creeping down your chin, there's no way to play it off; you just have to pray that nobody noticed.
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Still at work. Still bored. 1.2 million brain cells dead so far today.
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