On the perpetual lateness of a certain train passenger:

an old man waits for a train for many days
and though many trains pass
he never boards a single one
he instead spends his time complaining about how late his train is
he smokes
he reads the paper
he drinks cheap gas station coffee
he complains that it tastes horrible
but he keeps purchasing it at seventy nine cents a cup

and he waits.


one day a young man sits with him
making small talk to pass the time
and this young man asks
"when is your train due?"
and the first man responds
"it's hard to tell
these days
because I cannot read the ticket
the trains don't seem to slow in the station anymore
no one calls my name
no one asks me to board
I just sit here
I drink this godforsaken coffee
and I listen to the whistle
and I watch another pass me by
I used to ride the train every day
and now all I do is wait"


The young man thinks for a moment before responding.


"Well
you could come with me
I could help you board
read your ticket to you
let you know when it's time for us to leave
we could travel together
why,
it would be grand, wouldn't it?"

The old man looks at the empty platform


"I never much liked the train anyway."

the old man stands up

and walks away

to wait for something else.