22 Comments
User's avatar
Jamilah Simmons's avatar

loved this. you two ARE cute!

Pat Willard's avatar

You dr4inking without me, woman?!

Stephanie Urdang's avatar

I think you're cute too, but only because you're also very interesting and one can tell by looking. That's why you got so much attention!

Pat Willard's avatar

We need lunch!

PJ's avatar

I am certain you are cute, and "I. HATE. HIM." legit made me laugh out loud, but I am mostly jealous of your ability to read on a train. Just thinking about it makes me motion sick.

Pat Willard's avatar

Yeah i get that. Just have to have something really really interesting. I carry like 4 different magazines sometimes just in case. Also it seriously is one of the few times that gives you a block of time!

Ruby Unger's avatar

Chuckle, chuckle. Ever catch a glimpse of yourself in a window when you're walking down the street? Shocked at what you see? What we THINK we look like, and what we DO look like to the world outside our bubble can be sooo dissimilar. I can picture you, two, and I KNOW you are cute together. Comes from years of practice and choosing the right mate! ❤️

Pat Willard's avatar

I don't look in windows or mirrors anymore! Its my magical thinking method

Susanna Minton Graham's avatar

This is beautiful.

Eagle Scout's avatar

I have always thought of Chris as being cute.

Pat Willard's avatar

You can date him if you want but you have to give him back afterwards.

Maria Mulkern's avatar

I love this! We were walking in the park recently when a group of local teenagers rushed by us on a narrow pathway. They quickly turned around, and shouted, “Sorry elders!”.

Pat Willard's avatar

I would consider that what I like to call, a slappable moment! Damn kids

Vicki Smith's avatar

I remember the first I was offered a seat on the bus! I was absolutely dumb founded as the person appeared to be close to my age. Good for you in reading from a magazine instead of scrolling through your phone!

Pat Willard's avatar

It's wild, isn't it! I had it happen once before and I was a little offended! In retrospect, it's a kind, considerate thing to do (I get up for pregnant women and anyone standing with a baby/toddler in their arms). My mom would have congratulate them for having a mother who raised them well!

Susan Wittig Albert's avatar

Love your eye for detail, Pat. And isn't it interesting: how *disembodied* we are, here on the internet? I couldn't figure out why a man would offer you and your husband his seat--what? Just because you're reading? It didn't make sense until I got to your "closer facsimile." Nicely done!

Pat Willard's avatar

Thanks Susan, as always....that detail, though, was a product of rewriting--wasn't until the final draft (#8) that I picked up on the connection of the seat. First time I took someone up on the offer, too! Love the necessity to rewrite--a lot!

Susan Wittig Albert's avatar

For me, that's always where it lives. In the rewrite process.

Pat Willard's avatar

Its the fun part

Mary-Denise Smith's avatar

Ah, the R train. A few years ago my dear friend finally moved from her dark, miserable, noisy, depressing apartment near Atlantic Avenue to quiet, light filled digs at the last stop on the R. One of the best decisions she ever made!

Pat Willard's avatar

We're 2 stops away from the end! One of ours too!