"Po-lice can' gettus."

You meet the strangest characters on the train. Unlike the metro or the bus, there’s something about trains that attracts a different breed of people. Sure, you get your share of oddballs on all public transportation. But I think that the train takes the cake. The band member planning an elaborate launch party for his group’s new single; a man who clearly had just escaped from a hospital, wearing nothing but a hospital gown; the kid from Cal State L.A. who managed to talk for more than ten minutes about the value of his bean, rice and cheese burrito from El Pollo Loco (to a girlfriend who was willing to listen): every day is another adventure.

Some moments are more poignant than odd, however.

A young father sat behind me with his son, no more than two or three. As the train accelerated, so did the little guy’s flow of words, a ceaseless stream of commentary on everything that passed. As he reached new heights of volubility, I couldn’t resist glancing back and laughing. I made eye contact with his dad, and we smiled. Only then did I catch exactly what his son was saying...

“Da pohlice can’ gettus, Daddy. Da pohlice can’ gettus on de train, dey can’ gettus. Unh uh, no way.”

It just seemed sad.