Spoiler Alert

This morning I was on the T, minding my own business as usual. Generally I read the paper in the morning, which occupies my mind enough so that it doesn't wander off and start listening in on other people's banal goings-on.

But for some reason, today I started picking up on the voice of the woman sitting on my left. (Maybe it's because she was right next to me; if someone is a few feet away, it's easier to tune out their voice.) She was talking to a friend sitting on her other side about the new TV show Fringe, which premiered last night. After a minute or two, I realized that she was not just talking about the show, but describing the entire episode.

These days I do most of my TV watching via TiVo, and while I did record this show last night, I haven't watched it yet. Therefore, I did not want to hear any of what happened, especially secondhand. I quickly yanked my earbuds out of my bag and got my iPod going. (I often don't listen to music in the morning, preferring to concentrate on what I'm reading; going home after work, I'm much more likely to listen to music as a way to relax.)

Meanwhile, to my right I had a guy who was sitting with his legs spread so far apart that I was forced to sit sideways, and his leg was still touching mine. What's with that? It's one of those displays of general ignorance that we tend to ignore or let slide. I was in fact just about to ask him if it was really necessary for him to sit that way, when he got up and left the train. I believe this is an example of why commuters like the single seats on trains and buses so much.