A girl threw up on the train this evening. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, the packed train quickly sub-divided pulling back through carriages without anyone uttering a single word. The only real sound—apart from moving train that is—was the ‘gushing’ she made as she wretched, ridding herself of whatever it was she had. With the carriage half-empty she curled up on now empty seats and promptly fell asleep. She had half an entire Yamanote Line train at rush hour all to herself. What’s more, the train had been wrapped in vinyl to give the impression of an Olympic swimming pool. Hmm. I love the fact that it was all completely arbitrary, yet this incident completely changed my day for the better. I didn’t see here throw up, I only heard the sound of someone being sick, like a tap being slowly opened, or a plastic bag being rummaged through. When it happened, we both evacuated to another carriage but getting off as we reached our stop and walking past the carriage she was in, the image of her lying fast asleep yards from the torrent of vomit and splash-backed vinyl flooring was somehow wonderful. It was a feeling of concern mixed with weird admiration. Amazing grace and composure from all concerned.