I heard a strange story from a female student of mine recently.
She told me that when she was standing on a packed commuter train, a man suddenly patted her on the shoulder. She turned round and met his eye.
“Excuse me, but you have something on your back,” he said politely, and smiled reassuringly. “Can I touch your back to take it off?”
The woman agreed, and she felt his hand on her back.
When the train got to the next stop, the man said, “If you get off the train, I’ll show you what was on your back.”
So she followed him off the train and onto the platform. He then showed her a huge brown bug, several inches long. The woman squealed in horror and thanked him for getting rid of it. Then she got on the train again and continued on her journey to work, wondering how such a bug could have gotten on her back.
*
Perhaps it is a totally innocent story of a good Samaritan politely helping a fellow train passenger.
But I must admit that I felt a little suspicious. Maybe the man carries a big brown bug around in his pocket and takes it out on packed commuter trains to stick to the back of female commuters. It then gives him an excuse to touch them and strike up a conversation, and watch their reaction as they see the huge bug.
“I’m going to touch your back now to take off the bug. You might feel my hand, but stay calm. O, no! The bug has started running! Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll catch it soon!”
I hope my suspicions are unfounded. But there are some strange people in the world, and especially on trains.
Vocabulary:
packed – very crowded
to meet someone’s eye – to make eye-contact with someone
reassuringly – in a way which makes others feel less worried
to squeal – to make a high-pitched cry
a good Samaritan – someone who goes out of their way to offer help to a stranger (from a story in the Bible)
to be unfounded – of rumours, suspicions etc., to have no basis or reason for existing
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