The Sunday train of 9.30 to Haifa
Here in Israel is Sunday the first day of the working day, when everybody returns to the weekly return of work or studies, and especially the morning transport on that day is full with young passengers, who enjoyed the weekend at home and now had to go back to duty.
I love to take such busy trains, as you see, a wonderful spectrum of the Israeli public, who are all together a mixed group of different people, placed for a short period of time in the small space of the train compartment.
This time, I concentrated on the conversations of my co-travelers, with each other or with outside people on the cellular phone (everybody in Israel speaks at least once or twice on his cellular during the ride), a loud conversation, which everybody hears.
Near me, were a girl and boy, according their features, clearly born with the Downs syndrome, and traveling to their hostel, where they live during their weekdays, and the conversation (slightly too loud) was over what he would do if he had some money, he told his friend, that he would buy an electric vegetable slicer and mixer (apparently there were some advertisements on the TV for this equipment, which had fancied his imagination). She asked him, what he intent to prepare with it, and his reply was instant, make a good vegetable soup. The entire compartment was thinking about vegetable soup, but the girl said, but you still have a very tasty soup in the refrigerator. We understood from that, that they were a couple.
But now, the phone of the girl on my right started playing an Arabic song, and when she answered the phone in Arabic, I realized that she was an Israeli Palestinian. It is impolite to stare at people, but I could not help myself, she was about 18 years of age, dressed in sportive tight trainer, dressed the same way as most Israeli girls of her age.
It made me wonder why they think that there is any discrimination in Israel, until her phone conversation, she was one with the great mix.
Opposite me sat a sergeant in the infantry, he held an I phone / pad or how they call these gadgets, and was enjoying a stand up comedy, with funny punch lines that made him frequently burst in laughter. I don’t think that he noticed any other travelers as he was really lost in the show.
Near him sat an university student, reading a technical text, and making notes, but at the same time looked over the shoulder of his neighbor, the sergeant, and combining his study with stolen comedy, I wonder if he could concentrate on his studies.
Suddenly, the noisy surroundings were disturbed by a loud shouting coming from the next compartment, obvious everybody was looking in the direction of the connection door, and through it appeared a well dressed religious Jew, who informed the train passengers, that his daughter is terminally ill and needs an urgent life saving operation in the US, and he, the poor father had run out of money, could not afford the expenses even couldn’t celebrate the last religious holidays, and was asking generous contributions from the travelers, (it sounded very much a hoax, but still Jews are suckers for a drama and many gave him money, when he passed by their seats), obvious, we have not changed much, since we came from the Diaspora and stories of the Jews in the Jewish communities in Poland and Russia.
The loudspeaker announced that we had reached my destination, and we were advised to be careful not to fall when the train stops, and please don’t forget to take all your possessions. This was an anticlimax of my fascinating journey. Our melting in to one people, coming from everywhere, makes Israel so special, here nobody is normal, as normal does not exist in Israel. We are all special.
