It started in the morning on Friday. As I got ready to get off the train, I stopped in my tracks. Something smelled like a very familiar chemical. After years of working in various biology and chemistry labs, there are an awful lot of "familiar" chemicals. It's been a while since I handled any serious chemicals, but I finally decided that it smelled distinctly like acetone. Turning around, I realized that the source of the smell was a lady painting her nails two seats behind me. Seriously. Painting nails at 8 in the morning on the Metro? Someone must have been rushed this morning, I thought.
My fellow riders and I were somewhat taken aback by the makeup routine of a rider at past 5 PM. Glancing around the car, I noticed a woman seated across the aisle take off her glasses, then casually take out her contact case and lens solution. Squirting solution on her fingertips (yes, letting it drip on the floor), she proceeded to put in her contacts. Or, at least she tried. It took her 5 tries to get the first one in. Meanwhile, after a couple of failed attempts, she dumped the dirty lens solution straight onto the carpet, repeating the process several times. The man sitting in direct view of this scene saw me watching and shook his head, trying to stifle his laughter. It's understandable that someone would want to change into contacts, but to dump lens solution so casually on the floor of a public train car? It was so ridiculous it was laughable. I did my absolute best to laugh silently, looking away. Imagine how much harder it was to not laugh when I saw her take out concealer and begin applying it below her eyes. After nonchalantly checking her phone, it was time for mascara. Unfortunately, my stop was next and I didn't see how the makeup routine ended. I wonder if it ended with nail polish.
