I chose the 3 vacant seats on the train that were closest to the vestibule as it was the most convenient spot, travelling with 2 young children and a pram. I decided to ignore the un-welcoming looks coming from the lady we were sharing the 4 seat set with.
We had just as much right to be there.
The girls were well behaved and the lady stopped looking so cranky. In fact, it didn't take her long to start smiling at them and to respond to Ruby's incessant "hello lady!"
The lady had a giggle when Ruby thought the train was going to go in the water, and gave me a sympathetic smile when they were arguing about who can look out of whose window. Eventually my crazy kids antics had her smiling and happy.
As we approached her station, she said to me "thank you for sitting near me. My 7 year old grand-daughter has been diagnosed with leukaemia and I'm on my way to Westmead to visit her. I really needed cheering up, and your girls really made me smile".
Then the train pulled into the station and I didn't really know what to say in the next 3 seconds, but Eliza filled in for me and yelled at the top of her lungs; "it must be your lucky day, meeting us!"
The lady left the train in peels of laughter.
You just never know what the person next to you is going through.
