18 Fellow Travelers Who Left a Lasting Impression

You sit down peacefully on public transportation, thinking, “I just want to get there as soon as possible.” But it’s like fate has other plans for the ride — one moment, a guy with an owl on his shoulder walks in, the next, some old man slips money into your hand. People online shared stories about this kind of fellow passengers — the ones that you simply can’t ignore.

• I often sketch in the subway. Sometimes I give my drawings to people, sometimes I just keep them in my notebook.
  One day, a woman came up to me and asked if she could take a look. I let her flip through it. She stopped on one page and froze.
  Then suddenly she asked, “Where did you see this girl?” I said, “Yesterday. She was sitting across from me.” The woman started crying.
  She said, “That’s my daughter. She went missing 3 years ago.” We went to the police together and showed them the drawing. I don’t know how it all ended, but ever since then, I draw with even more attention. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• I remember getting onto a bus and going to the back to discover a horrible ammonia smell coming from the corner — there was a woman there dying her hair with no mirror, no gloves, she just plopped herself there and ripped open the drugstore box of dye and went at it. She got off the bus with the bottle still in hand, mushing it into her hair. © tashasei / Reddit
• Back in my student days, I was riding a tram during rush hour. The tram stopped, and we were making way for people trying to squeeze through the aisle when I suddenly started feeling someone tugging on my hair.
  At first, just a little. My first thought was that some friend was playing a prank on me. Then it got stronger and stronger — to the point where I physically couldn’t lean back anymore.
  I turned around, and there was this furious old lady wrapping my hair around her fist, muttering, “Tie that mess up, girl!” © Overheard / Ideer

• My mom met one of her good friends on a plane. Both were going to Vietnam. Mom was coming back to Vietnam to visit grandma, other lady was returning to Vietnam after visiting her daughter (who’s an international student).
  The other lady didn’t have money to buy a bottle of water (they’re on the budget plane), so my mom offered to buy it for her. They ended up being good friends, I helped her daughter move after graduation to a regional area for work (as a nurse).
  The other lady is quite rich, and so whenever we’ve come back to Vietnam, they offer to take us to buffets, etc. because they’re so grateful we’re helping their kids in Australia to find work, housing, etc. All because of a bottle of water. © KittyKatWombat / Reddit
• We were riding the subway with my boyfriend, arguing and ready to break up. Then an older man, clearly tight on money, handed us some cash and said, “Why are you sorting things out on the move? Don’t you have time? Take this money, go to a café, and work it out.”
  We didn’t take the money, but he saved our relationship. © Overheard / Ideer
• I’m used to seeing all kinds of animals on the subway — cats in carriers, dogs on leashes, once even a guy with a parrot on his shoulder. But today I was really surprised.
  I walked into the station and suddenly saw a guy with an owl perched on his arm. A real one. Huge eyes, serious expression, and the guy was so calm with it, like this was just an ordinary thing for him. © Caramel / VK

• Was listening to music on the bus with my headphones in, a random guy sits near me and starts asking what I’m listening to. It was Freebird, and he went on for something like 5–10 minutes about Skynyrd and other music like that until he shut up and found his next random target.
  Which turned out to be a random girl that sat in the same row of seats as me in the back. He went on for a while talking about her colorful shoes. Weird guy, but still a nice enough guy. © a2j89 / Reddit
• I was traveling in a train compartment, climbed up to my bunk, quietly doing Sudoku. Downstairs sat a seemingly polite couple in their fifties, husband and wife, chatting quietly.
  Suddenly, I sneezed once, and immediately the “sweet” lady said in a lecturing tone that polite people should apologize. I replied that polite people usually don’t even notice such things. © Maria Nekrylova / Dzen

• I was riding the tram, it wasn’t too crowded, but almost all seats were taken. At one stop, an old man, probably around 85 or 90, with a heavy bag got on. Without thinking, I stood up and offered him my seat. He looked at me closely, smiled, and asked, “Are you getting off, or just giving up your seat for no reason?”
  I said I was just giving it up, and he happily sat down, nodded at me, and started rummaging through his bag. I looked away, thinking about my own stuff, when suddenly he pulled out a small bouquet of daffodils, handed it to me, and said, “This is for you, miss, to make your day better.”
  I stood there holding the flowers, unable to stop smiling. The rest of the day was full of positivity, and those daffodils now stand in a vase, reminding me that kindness is simple and unexpected. © Chamber 6 / VK
• My sister lives near Washington, DC. I was on a train with my sister and mother one day while we were visiting, and I was super nervous because I’m an anxious mess and was a teenage girl from a rural area in the biggest city I’d ever been in.
  I’d taken up a spot near the front of our car, hanging on to one of the poles and just watching all the people, when a group of men up front started something I never expected. They were a group of musicians from South Africa. They started drumming and singing and even dancing on the train! It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen!
  They noticed me watching, encouraged me to join in, but were super sweet and understanding when I shied away out of nerves. It was such a great moment, and it is still one of my favorite memories! © TiredonMaine / Reddit

• My husband is saved in my phone as “Beloved.” One time, I was riding a bus, sitting next to an old lady. My phone rang, showing “Beloved” calling. I answered, said a few words, and ended with “I’ll be waiting for you, kisses.”
  As soon as I finished the call, the old lady practically attacked me, fists ready. Why? For some reason, she thought that despite having a husband, I was talking to a lover, and decided to teach me a lesson! © Overheard / Ideer
• I’m on the bus, eating chocolate. A dog comes up to me and wags its tail. The woman opposite suddenly says that the animal wants to taste the treat.
  But dogs aren’t allowed to eat chocolate. I said, “I’m sorry, I can’t.” So, the dog’s owner started shouting at me! In the end, I just got off the bus and walked. © Retrosonic82 / Reddit
• I walked into the airplane cabin and saw 2 men sitting there. I said I wanted to take my window seat. They replied, “Take a free seat.” I refused, they grumbled and let me pass.
  But when I needed to use the bathroom, they wouldn’t let me through! So I pressed the flight attendant call button. They immediately stood up and let me go, but I still explained the situation to the attendant when she came over. © Miss Trey* / Dzen

• Rush hour in the subway. I’m walking down the stairs, good music playing in my headphones, hands in my pockets. A beautiful girl takes my arm and walks with me to the bottom of the stairs. When we reach the bottom, she lets go and keeps walking like nothing happened. Strange. © Overheard / Ideer
• This happened 30 years ago. I was riding a tram when a stranger sat next to me. Out of nowhere, he shared what he called the golden rule of relationships: a man should be the strongest and smartest for a woman, and a woman should be beautiful and kind for a man. And most importantly, both must be each other’s beloved.
  Those words stuck with me. Now, after 15 years of marriage, I can say that stranger was right. That rule became the foundation of the happy life my wife and I share. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• We traveled to Italy with my wife, waiting for check-in. There were about 30 Chinese passengers. About 20 minutes after takeoff, they all, like on cue, started cooking noodles. The smell was unreal! Then the men stood in the aisle for about an hour while the women rested, then they switched.
  10 days later, we were flying back, and they were flying as well, but this time they had food processors in their carry-on! It’s been 15 years, but I remember it like it was yesterday. © Maxim S / Dzen

• I was riding the subway today and nodded off when suddenly someone tapped my shoulder. I opened my eyes and the girl next to me said, “If you want, you can rest your head on my shoulder. I’ll wake you up when needed.”
  I was so surprised by the offer that I immediately said, “No, thank you.” She said, “It’s nothing, you’re just swaying.” I replied again, “No, really, thank you.”
  Then I sat as still as possible, thinking: could I ever offer a stranger to rest their head on my shoulder like that? © Overheard / Ideer
• I used public transportation regularly during my school days and during that time for exactly one year, I noticed a particular guy who’s get on one stop after me and get off at the same stop as me. I always boarded only one bus as that was the only one going toward my school. He wasn’t different looking in any way, but I still remembered his face.
  Fast-forward to 9 years later, I’m boarding a bus in a completely different state, to go attend a robotics competition with my friends. As the bus is going along, I look around and... I see him there. I still don’t know how, but I recognized him, he also saw me, recognized me and smiled. He even got off the bus at the same stop as me, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to him because I was running late. © Alfreds16 / Reddit

And here are more stories that happened to people on public transport.