The Beer Can by the Stream

A few minutes ago, the train pulled into a station. I was looking out the window, observing the long line of commuters filing off the train. It was like watching a human stream. Newspaper stands, ticket machines and garbage cans lined its shores as it flowed towards the sea of civilization beyond.

On one of its banks, there was a blue, 16-ounce beer can. Apparently, train platforms make good drinking spots. Like real streams that find the path of least resistance, this one conveniently meandered around the aluminum obstruction. Most people didn't even seem to notice the can as they passed or if they did, they simply ignored it.

Almost everybody had trickled out when one woman, a nurse with a floral-patterned scrub top and purple pants, left the flow and picked it up. She emptied the beer onto a patch of barren dirt, crushed the can and tossed it into a recycling receptacle before rejoining the stream.

Watching that brightened this otherwise rainy and gloomy Cinco de Mayo. Happy Triple 05!