Smells

The first thing you notice are different smells all around you. Those smells you perceive when you start getting into the tunnels that take you down underneath the ground in the gut of the earth. There are ants all around you, ants running around in a hurry each to its destination.

You also have a destination so you become part of the flow and move towards the queue that takes you to the subway train you need. Like the other ants you start getting into your role and as the train arrives you look around. You see many faces around you, some that look at you and some who are absorbed by a book or just look into emptiness. Bodies that touch you, push you.

You notice that nobody smiles and actually most people try to isolate themselves in their own virtual space away from others. You start noticing those who look different, who are dressed strangely or have a different skin color and you ask yourself what are they doing there, what do they want what do they expect.

And the smells get stronger and you ask yourself why. A sad face catches your attention, perhaps someone who's disillusioned or alone. You are curious but at the same time you are scared. Who is he, what does he want to do? There may be danger. You look around, you look for safety, perhaps from your own fears but you do not find it and you wonder what to do.

Suddenly, you hear someone speak louder in a language you do not understand. Is it a fight? You think again that there may be danger, the subway train arrives and you step back from the edge in fear of being pushed. It's happened before.

The doors open, you enter and look for a safe place where to stand undisturbed. So much intrusion, so many new faces you did not see on this line before, so many foreigners.

What will happen to this city? Who are all these intruders?

Suddenly, someone laughs and then others laugh, you notice it, look toward the direction it come from and see that the people laughing are small with darker skin, they are happy. You recognize the language, it's Spanish, not the one spoken in Madrid probably Peruvian.

Finally, someone who laughs who is in a good mood. You smile and go along with the good mood. Nobody also has noticed all this. Most people are reading their newspapers or books. For them this laughter is not contagious.

You notice it because you are sad but you really don't want to be. Because they are laughing and you are not. What do they have that make them so happy? Perhaps we should laugh more too.

If we looked around we would notice how many people have much less than we do but have learned to appreciate it more, while we are never happy even with our richer lifestyle.

Perhaps they laugh because now they have a home, a job, medicines and do not live with war around them with hunger and diseases. We, in our prosperous life, are not even touched by these unpleasant things and yet we are sad and unhappy.

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