Atlanta’s MARTA is always good for an interesting event. Most recently, I’ve ridden it to get to and from work though, and commuters are very boring travel companions. Today I travelled into the city in the morning, for some more VITA training, and rode it back out to the client site around 11. There are a lot more interesting characters loitering on the trains at that time of the day. Too interesting for my imagination to handle apparently.

So I’m sitting, the train starts moving, and a tall guy comes pushing through the doors from the next car up. Now, people don’t usually use those doors to move between cars, especially when there are lots of open seats. Now this guy looks MAD. Really angry.

Then, he starts telling us something. I can’t tell what, since he’s mumbling a bit, but he’s saying he needs something from us.

Oh my god, I think, we’re getting held hostage.

No one around the guy seems too bothered, so I decided it couldn’t be what I thought. Then he starts walking over to me, and the girl in front of me holds out her cellphone to him.

We ARE being held hostage! I think, He’s taking our means of communication and our wallets!

Turns out, he just wanted spare change, and she was handing him some, while holding onto her cellphone in the same hand.

So that was a relief.

I gave him a dollar, even though he was just asking for 25 cents, because I was so happy he wasn’t going to shoot us.