And, still more salient, why had I jumped into the car in the first place?...There seem to me at least a dozen answers to these questions, and all of them, however dimly, valid enough. I think, though, that I can dispense with them, and just reiterate that the year was 1942, that I was twenty-three, newly drafted, newly advised in the efficacy of keeping close to the herd-and, above all, I felt lonely. One simply jumped into loaded cars, as I see it, and stayed seated in them.
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters
J.D. Salinger
It's interesting that in a city as full as New York that people are in a constant state of loneliness. People are yearning for some type of interaction, any type of interaction. A smile on the train, a wave at the station attendant, a regular trip to a local coffee shop, anything to feel a connection. I usually end up in conversations with those around me. And for those few minutes we share something that no one else will. We complain about the MTA or remark on the weather and it isn't the conversation, but rather knowing that you aren't alone. And even in something as simple as that we find that we've jumped into a loaded car to fight off the loneliness.
And I hope they don't feel so lonely anymore.
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