Nap Time

Last night, I was coming home from work on the Orange line, as usual. I was reading my paper and not paying much attention to anything else. There was an empty seat to my left that was filled at State by a guy who looked to be around 30, wearing typical office attire.

As we left North Station and started up the grade to come above ground, the guy's weight shifted and he kind of leaned into me a little. When we finished ascending the grade and leveled off, he was still leaning on me. He was a fairly tall guy, so the weight pressing on me was not insubstantial, and even though the AC was on, it wasn't that comfortable in the subway car. I very gently pushed against his right shoulder with my left one, to try to get him to shift his weight off me, but it didn't work. Shortly after that, the train made a bit of a lurch, and the guy abruptly lifted his head and shifted so that he was no longer leaning on me. That's when I realized that he had been asleep.

Between Community College and Wellington, he dozed off three or four more times for maybe 20 to 30 seconds at a time. Each time he would jerk back awake and lift his head, seemingly fighting the urge to catch a quick T nap. When I got up to leave, I wondered what would happen. With no one sitting next to him, would his next doze send him slumping over sideways? Would he wake up at Oak Grove and realize that he'd meant to get off at Malden Center?