Everyone wants to talk.

I get on the train yesterday. A man sits down next to me, he says, "hello." No one says "hello" on the train unless they want to talk. Inside I say, "fuck."

Within the first five minutes of our conversation I've learned
1. He's an accountant
2. He's in the middle of a terrible divorce
3. He has a four year old daughter

Within the first five minutes of our conversation I've made sure I've said

1. I've graduated college
2. I'm living with my BOYFRIEND
3. boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend

He wears a suit. He tells me more about the cause of his divorce coming mostly from the amount of hours he spends at work. He tells me accounting is a horrible profession- the money is good, the loss of your identity is not. He tells me he's climbing the corporate ladder. He shows me emails on his blackberry to prove that his superiors like him. He keeps referring to the idea of maintaining his composure at work while he's going through this rough time. Being emotional is a sign of weakness; it's something that can potentially be used against you in future situations.

Bingo.

It's here I realize he's not an awful, slobbering pervert. He just wants to talk. He doesn't get a chance to talk at work, but now he can. And boy do we talk. Before I know it I'm relating personal stories of my older brother breaking up with his girlfriend. Of my memories of my parents divorcing when I was about the age of his daughter. Of the happier life my brother now leads after the custody battle he went through for his son. Wow. I'm comforting him with things like, everything happens for a reason- you'll be able to focus on your career- you'll be able to take more time for yourself. I just met this man ten minutes ago.

He goes on to tell me more about the life he led with his soon to be ex-wife. He paid for her schooling, she made him fat, blah blah blah. I then realize we're not only talking to each other, we're talking to an entire train car of listening ears. But I don't care because the conversation was so real. There were no ulterior motives, nothing contrived and nothing forced- it was so organic. Weird.

We continue the rest of the ride with conversation about the nice people he interviews for jobs with his company. (He shows me a thank you email on his blackberry from a recent candidate) He makes a point (on more than one occasion) to specify he's not "into the girl or anything" whenever he brings up an encounter with a female. He's in with the girls in his HR department (but not "into" them) and gets to do most of interviews for new hires, which leads to hiring bonuses for him. He slips in the phrase "making $100,000 a year isn't all it's cracked up to be." Cool?

We get off the train and I half expect the "slobbering pervert" to reveal himself and follow me home. But he doesn't. He shakes my hand, says it was nice talking to me and heads the other way. Hmm. That was it, he just wanted to talk. I turn to walk home and inside I say, "fuck." It's raining.