On Friday afternoon I transferred at the usual station. They were already on the train.
{ }................ F| <--- seats
{L doors R}
................ E|
A B ...... C D
_ _ ...... _ _ <--- rows of seats
_ _ ...... _ _
_ _ ...... _ _
Two young women in their twenties in seats A and B, made up, well dressed. A young man in his twenties in seat D, T-shirt, fashionable semi punk haircut. A woman in her late thirties in seat E, no make up, lowcut blouse. A man in his late forties in seat F, short sleeve shirt. Caucasian race. They were together, conversing. I entered through door R and sat down two rows behind woman A, looking at her back, both our backs facing the train's direction of travel.
At the next station, another pretty young woman came on waved in by woman B, and sat dawn in seat C. Woman B introduced her to everyone. I heard only that man D is woman's B boyfriend. A minute later, woman E mentioned something about her fiance. Woman C showed everyone a photo on her cell phone. Woman C asked young man D a question, which he answered, and man F jokingly added, "yes he's been in prison". Perhaps he was the young man's father, but no, woman E was too young to be his mother.
The train was noisy, there were other conversations around, and I didn't make out much of their exchanges. I only concluded they were all going for a night on the town, or maybe to a ball game, and that they were unfamiliar with the route. Man F rose and walked over to check a map hanging on the wall past door R. Woman A held a sheet of paper with another map.
And then I noticed. C, D, E, F had all the same noses. (I couldn't see the faces of A and B.) The same bridge, the same nostrils, the same proportions. Class VI. I watched them as they turned, faced me, turned their left and right profiles toward me, and the noses all looked identical. I looked around me at other passengers, to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, and they all had different nose shapes, all classes of shapes represented. The young Chinese man who sat down next to me had a Class II, the Greek nose. A black worker across the isle had a Class III the Nubian nose. A Hispanic woman had a Class V, the Snub nose. I started wishing I had carried a small mirror with me, like when I was sixteen.
Five stations before my destination the train becomes crowded with passengers transferring from another line. The young Chinese man got off and an older white woman took his place beside me. I examined the shape of her nose. Class I, the Roman. I focused at a dozen other noses. All different. Two tall men in their thirties entered and stood by doors L, as all seats were now taken. One of them soon approached woman B and out of the blue asked her where she was from. She answered "From around here", "You're from around here?", he asked. "Yes," she said. The man retreated back to his companion. I checked out these two men's noses. The questioner's companion's nose was shaped the same as the noses of this group.
They finally got off one station before I was to disembark. I could see that woman's B nose was much wider and shorter, the Snub nose, but woman's A nose was the same as the noses of the rest of them.
The woman sitting next to me disembarked as well. A young man, who was standing by our seats took her place. Class III nose, I noted. He turned to me.
"Excuse me, I noticed that you were watching the group that just got off the train," he said.
"Yes. So?" I answered a little embarassed at being caught staring.
"Well, you see I'm a student at the University, working on my Ph.D in Physical Anthropology, and I have a keen interest in people's physiognomies, in fact it's related to my thesis.
"Oh?" I said.
He answered, "Did you by any chance notice those people's ears?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, no," I said, as the train was slowing down. I added "oh, here's my station, goodbye."
(This post was inspired by the memory of Witold Gombrowicz' novel Kosmos.)
_ _ ...... _ _
Two young women in their twenties in seats A and B, made up, well dressed. A young man in his twenties in seat D, T-shirt, fashionable semi punk haircut. A woman in her late thirties in seat E, no make up, lowcut blouse. A man in his late forties in seat F, short sleeve shirt. Caucasian race. They were together, conversing. I entered through door R and sat down two rows behind woman A, looking at her back, both our backs facing the train's direction of travel.
At the next station, another pretty young woman came on waved in by woman B, and sat dawn in seat C. Woman B introduced her to everyone. I heard only that man D is woman's B boyfriend. A minute later, woman E mentioned something about her fiance. Woman C showed everyone a photo on her cell phone. Woman C asked young man D a question, which he answered, and man F jokingly added, "yes he's been in prison". Perhaps he was the young man's father, but no, woman E was too young to be his mother.
The train was noisy, there were other conversations around, and I didn't make out much of their exchanges. I only concluded they were all going for a night on the town, or maybe to a ball game, and that they were unfamiliar with the route. Man F rose and walked over to check a map hanging on the wall past door R. Woman A held a sheet of paper with another map.
And then I noticed. C, D, E, F had all the same noses. (I couldn't see the faces of A and B.) The same bridge, the same nostrils, the same proportions. Class VI. I watched them as they turned, faced me, turned their left and right profiles toward me, and the noses all looked identical. I looked around me at other passengers, to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, and they all had different nose shapes, all classes of shapes represented. The young Chinese man who sat down next to me had a Class II, the Greek nose. A black worker across the isle had a Class III the Nubian nose. A Hispanic woman had a Class V, the Snub nose. I started wishing I had carried a small mirror with me, like when I was sixteen.
Five stations before my destination the train becomes crowded with passengers transferring from another line. The young Chinese man got off and an older white woman took his place beside me. I examined the shape of her nose. Class I, the Roman. I focused at a dozen other noses. All different. Two tall men in their thirties entered and stood by doors L, as all seats were now taken. One of them soon approached woman B and out of the blue asked her where she was from. She answered "From around here", "You're from around here?", he asked. "Yes," she said. The man retreated back to his companion. I checked out these two men's noses. The questioner's companion's nose was shaped the same as the noses of this group.
They finally got off one station before I was to disembark. I could see that woman's B nose was much wider and shorter, the Snub nose, but woman's A nose was the same as the noses of the rest of them.
The woman sitting next to me disembarked as well. A young man, who was standing by our seats took her place. Class III nose, I noted. He turned to me.
"Excuse me, I noticed that you were watching the group that just got off the train," he said.
"Yes. So?" I answered a little embarassed at being caught staring.
"Well, you see I'm a student at the University, working on my Ph.D in Physical Anthropology, and I have a keen interest in people's physiognomies, in fact it's related to my thesis.
"Oh?" I said.
He answered, "Did you by any chance notice those people's ears?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, no," I said, as the train was slowing down. I added "oh, here's my station, goodbye."
(This post was inspired by the memory of Witold Gombrowicz' novel Kosmos.)
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