Karma

This weekend we took the train up to Chicago. When we got on the train to go up to Chicago, we found an open pod of seats with two seats facing each direction and took them. My wife was on one seat, I was in the seat diagonal and our bags and diaper bag took up the rest of the seats. The conductor came by and punched our tickets and said "We're expecting a full train, so you might have to give up some of these seats." We nodded and settled in for the journey. Another family came and sat in another pod of seats across the way. The other family was a single mother and her two well-behaved children. As we travelled north, the train took on more passengers, but never enough that there was a need to have anyone else sit in our pod. The other family got off in Joliet and we continued on to Chicago.

On the way back we got on the train after cutting the line (bad karma point number one). We got on the train and found a normal pair of seats with extra leg room in the middle of the car. Looking ahead there was only one pod of seats and there was a man standing in it. We debated taking the pair of seats but when the man moved from the pod of seats we pounced on it. No sooner than we had settled in, a three-person family came by the pod of seats and, finding it occupied, moved on to two pairs of seats across the aisle from each other (bad karma point number two). I felt bad, but at that point we were still more or less as justified in taking the pod as that group. When the four person family came by, I started shrinking in my chair (bad karma point number three). When we got to Joliet and the well-behaved family from the trip up got on, but couldn't find a pair of seats next to each other, I really started feeling bad (bad karma point number four). I pointed out what was going on to my wife and she started to feel bad about it too. But by the time we were going to clear some space, the other family had sat down. We got in to St. Louis without incident (other than being rather late), but we are sure that all of this bad karma is going to catch up with us sooner or later.

I usually try to be considerate. I get out of the fast lane when I see someone faster behind me. I try not to get in the right hand lane one a two-lane road when I know that there is someone who wants to turn behind me. I just missed a chance to be considerate to some people I don't know. And missed badly.