what it do

        “Amazing. Truly amazing. How millions of mindless people can gather here like the living dead, huddled under a little roof, and wait for some big machine to take them somewhere else.”
They had been waiting for a train. The voice came from a hunched-over, dark skinned woman in a black windbreaker and nude stockings. She was homeless, carrying around what was left of her life in a shopping cart.
She felt slightly ashamed for standing there, waiting. Did she really need to go somewhere else, somewhere new, to feel differently? Wouldn’t it all come crashing back, wouldn’t she fall into the same dusty old trap of life? It didn’t matter what sun she was under, hot or cold, she was still the same woman living the same dream.
It was a tragic flaw of hers to over consider the views of others, to fall into their mindsets.  She said nothing to the homeless woman, just smiled politely, and looked back at him. He was looking away, into the distance of the train tracks. His mind was somewhere else.