Friends of mine used to live in Roslindale, a neighborhood located about forty-five minutes southwest of my address in Beacon Hill. I often made the trip with another friend who lived in Central Square (Cambridge). The route always started the same way - we would meet somewhere downtown and ride the Orange Line to Forest Hills. The end of the trip would vary, however, depending on our selection among multiple bus connections.
On one such trip, we rode the 34E bus. This was a first. We boarded and sat in the sideways-facing seats by the front of the bus. Across from us on the right hand side sat a man in the only other sideways-facing seat. He looked at us and said hello as we sat. The driver started the bus and my friend took out his phone to keep track of the stops on the unfamiliar route.
I got the sense the man across from us was preparing to say something. I have a decent radar for this sort of thing, no doubt honed over many years of daily transit use. Some people just seem like they are on the bus solely to talk to other passengers. These people tend to spend a lot of time looking around and their glances always linger a second longer than those of their fellow travelers. There is nothing to do in these situations but to wait.
Finally, he spoke. "So, you got your pacifier out, do you?" The comment wasn't directed at me.
My friend looked up. "Huh?"
The man pointed at the phone. "Your pacifier." He didn't appear especially impressed with his own cleverness - this was just an observation.
My friend showed him the screen. "I'm just keeping track of the bus stops." The conversation paused for a few seconds. The topic of our destinations came up and, from there, we learned a little more about this man; where he was from, what he liked about his new shoes, his time in the military, what he knew about Norwood (our hometown). Our stop came and we got up to leave.
"See you next time," I said as I walked by. He nodded as we stepped onto the curb.
I've wondered a few times since that day - is comparing the smart phone to a pacifier a good analogy? I don't have a great sense of the answer. I can certainly see where the comparison is coming from and this particular bus ride wasn't the first time I've heard it made. But I think in this case it was a little strange to hear the comparison from someone doing more or less what a baby does before mama gets the pacifier out: generating a lot of noise that nobody asked for and getting the attention of strangers minding their own business in public.
