Inexplicable generic scenes

December 30th

• I’ve noticed her on the train platform at the local station. She was waiting for the same train as me. Smartly dressed for the cold weather, about thirty years old, but hard to tell with a hat and the hoodie. In one hand, she was holding a cardboard box — I guess that’s why I’ve noticed her. The box was empty, not even extended to full cubature — top and bottom flaps were not securely folded in any way and the box was folding flat by itself as she moved. But she wasn’t holding it flat, just by one flap, and the entire box was moving — opening and folding — and that seemed unnecessary and cumbersome. I’ve noticed her again after we left the train at the same stop. We walked for a couple of minutes in the same direction, and she still carried that box! Empty, not even properly folded box. Why? Why would she take an empty box, get on the train with it, and then walk home with it? What was so special about the box? I mean, you can get empty cardboard boxes at the grocery stores just for the asking. Or buy them for pennies. Why did she decide to put an effort to take this box from one place to another 35 kilometers away? That mystery of this box and this woman bothers me a lot still since I saw this scene unfold yesterday.
• On my way to the pet store today, I’ve noticed a guy before me pushing a stroller. He stopped by the entrance to the store and just left that stroller outside as he walked inside. I was about to scream to the guy to let him know he forgot his kid, but first I rushed there after him. False alarm — there was no kid in the stroller, just several bags of empties and some scrap metal. I went into the store as well and from up close I saw that he was one of the local scavengers, surviving on collecting empty bottles, empty cans, and scrap metal. I see them occasionally, going through garbage cans, collecting whatever they can sell into a pushcart or, as in this case, a stroller. It goes without saying that those guys are barely staying alive doing that, are visibly addicted, and most likely with severe mental problems. After waiting in line, the guy got to the counter and quietly was saying something to the owner — I heard only “no money”, “no food”, “hungry dog”, “no one to help”. The owner pointed to the big bag of dry dog food in front of the counter — “take it”. That was one of those big, 25 kilos bags. It was already open, but still almost full. There had to be at least 20 kilos of dog food left inside. The guy, thanking profusely, could barely lift it as he took it to his stroller outside. I saw that guy an hour later, pushing that stroller with that bag in it. There was, I think, a noticeable spring in his step. As depressing and terrible as his life is, at least his dog won’t be hungry for a while.