I love to take the metro. You can go from one place to another. You can just sit and let it take you wherever it is supposed to go. You can swing on the poles when the wagon is empty if you're in the mood for that. But most of all, you can look at people. You can look at those strangers' faces and try to imagine their story. Where do they come from ? Where are they going ? For what purpose ? Are they feeling lonely ? What are they thinking about ? Where were they born ? Do they have a family ? A loved one ? Are they meeting someone where they are going ? What is their biggest dream ? Are they moving towards it ? Are they sad ? Are they bored ? Are they feeling like time has stopped the moment they entered the metro ? These are questions that I ask myself when I look at those people that are around me.
My name is Noémie and I like to take the metro. I take it everyday, not because I need to go somewhere, but because I like to sit and look at the people that are taking the metro on that same day. You get to see all types of personaliies in the metro and I like to play with that. I like to imagine what the person I'm thinking about is up to. I like to imagine where they come from and where they are going. I like to think that these people wonder sometimes, just like I do, about others that are taking the metro at that exact same time. I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks and imagines things about strangers.
Hello stranger, where do you come from ? Where are you going from here ? These are questions that I also like to ask myself. I don't have any answer. Lost. That's what I am.
My name is Noémie and I like to look at people in the metro and wonder who they are. I often go on a metro ride for a day. I pick a random line by shutting my eyes and placing my wandering finger on the map. Then I sit, and wait. As the train goes, more and more people come in and more and more come out. Most don't even notice me because I am just a face in the crowd to them. An insignificant one. What they don't know is that I am not ignoring them. I am thinking about them. I am imagining their life in my mind. I have noticed them. I am printing their face in my brain so that I'll be able to draw it once I get home. I am memorizing every single trait of their face and every single expression and emotion that their eyes transmit.
When the wagon empties itself, that's when I know that night has fallen over the city and that it's time to go home. When I saw someone with a beautiful story, I like to swing on the poles no matter how many people their are left. This happens every day because every people I meet has a beautiful story. They all have a life worth talking about and they don't know it.
I am lost, and I like to take the metro to wonder about lives that don't interfere with mine. My name is Noémie and this is not my story. It's theirs.
