Catching the last train home one night last week I took my seat in a near empty carriage. I am always happy about this, as it means I can stretch out and enjoy a larger-than-can-generally-be-expected amount of personal space.

It is almost impossible however, to sit in a carriage with about half a dozen people, without glancing to look at them. I often wonder about who I would save first in case of a crash, so I like to rank them before the journey. It saves time during an emergency when every second counts. That is when I noticed him.

Across the carriage, about five rows down, and directly facing me, was a man. I am assuming he was of Arab descent, but in all honesty he could have been from any country that the US wants to invade. And he was looking straight at me.

I mean, RIGHT AT ME.

I do no scare easily, apart from the obvious things things like the dark, loud noises and spiders. But I am not afraid to admit this spooked me. I know that people can drift off from time to time, and look as if they are focusing on something, when in reality they are just having a bit of a daydream. So, to test which he was, I stared back.

Nothing.

I must have looked directly at him for about a gazillion hours, but he did not drop his glare. I looked out the window, around the carriage, and then back at him. And still he looked at me.

I have a friend, who may well indeed be Fat Jim who swears blind that if you put a phone to your ear and pretend to be in conversation you can stare at anyone you like, for as long as you like. This bloke had not even gone to the trouble of undertaking such a weak charade in order to stare at me. The bare cheek of it.

I stared again, this time willing him to look away, and after a few seconds something registered, he seemed to catch my eye properly, as if woken from a trance. He smiled, and looked out of the window.

He does not know how lucky he is, as he was this close (puts fingers very close together) to being asked to take it outside, for a five second scuffle before the doors close again. Or me changing carriage.

I have noticed that it is never attractive women that do this, it is always fat middle aged old men, which are of no interested to me sexually, no matter what those chat rooms say.

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