People on the train.

I met some interesting people on the train today, in reverse order --

3) An older Midwestern white woman who sat down with me in the dining car who had been in Abu Dhabi (sp.?) helping the airport there create an expansion plan. She kept talking about all her degrees, but when she asked if I would like to work in New York and I said it was too yuppie, she trashed it left and right and said she liked how Chicago is down to earth.

2) A well-dressed (dark jacket, subdued colored scarf) just-the-other-side-of-middle-aged white lady who I sat down with in the dining car when I was looking for space to spread out and do some Greek reading, and who turned out to be a Classics prof who knew people in my department. She did Latin satire, and was able to answer some questions I had about ancient philosophy.

1) This older white lady who was sprawled out on a seat when I first entered the train, and was covered in a blanket and had a neck-thing on for sleeping and looked like she didn't have that much money, and when we started talking, I found out she lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and when I asked her if she worked for the university, she was like, "Yes, I write about cheese," and it turned out that she was a science writer who worked on departmental newsletters that got sent out to dairy industry people about current research. I offered her a sausage from my unopened 4.5lb bag of sausage that the local convenience store owner in my hometown gave me the other day, and she laughed when I said I'd do it, even though it would cause the smell of sausage to waft throughout the car and give the Amtrak riders one more thing to complain about.

Also in the dining car was this really fat middle-aged woman from West Virginia who was wedged in the booth so her fat hung up on the table and down in below it, and who was in a "THIS BE ME LUCKY SHIRT" St. Patrick's Day shirt with a clover on it, and who would tell anyone who'd sit by her about her personal problems (her daughter had a boyfriend that she really loved but who broke up with her since he didn't feel like buying her a Christmas gift, her husband who's 61 left her for a 27-year old who wants his money and now her kids can't stand their father, etc.), and who would talk on her cell phone occasionally, though never about personal things, oddly.

Also also, when I went to the bathroom, I let this older black lady go ahead since I said I was just going to go brush my teeth and I could wait, and later on when I went back to my seat she gave a little smile-head nod thing to me.