Journal entry July, 19 2026: Sitting in the train station in Toulon France today at 9am. Drawing suspicious glances from fellow travelers. Why? Because I have a backpack in the train station and ordering a ticket on my phone?
The True Danger In The Train Station
I am not afraid of the people who are from out of town. What frightens me is the dude who just picked up a half smoked cigarette from the ground and lit it up like it ain’t no thing.
He gives the trash bin a cursury search from top to bottom with his eyes as he walks by exhausting his nicotine prize.
He stops and spins on a dime. Must have seen something delicious in the bin. But he must wait before he grabs food from the trash. People may see.
Sizing Up My Baggage
Dude ain’t got no luggage, no cell phone and apparently no money for butts.
His eyes light up a bit when he sees me. I look Anglo or German and that says money for him.
When The Horrifying Becomes Ordinary . Atrocities Are Normalized
Meanwhile the couple who are waiting for their train are stiffening up every time we make casual eye contact.
They are blind to the dude smoking checks and eating out of the trash bin and searching everyone’s luggage with his eyes.
Why? Because he looks like a local and I am foreign?
I need to shut down this emotional reception. Picking up fear all day in the cities. Millions of people.
Who scares you the most in the train station
Later That Day
I just spent the day getting a little down on my Self because I start to think something is wrong with me because others pointedly ignore me when I say hello
I understand it’s like that in a big city but if you are afraid to say hello to someone in the city, why are you there?
The Prince and The Pauper
Same guy, me, same clothes. Different place. I went to the Jardin Parc of Toulon. (It’s just a park for rich people. Poor people can go but they don’t. (See Related Story)
I am sitting on the bench stuffing my face and people assume I have money to stay in the 500Euro/night hotel nearby.
Instead of crossing the street to avoid interaction, they are sitting close to me on a 50 meter long bench.
A woman was high stepping towards me with her designer dog all perked up expecting the normally expected, “bonjour”.
I glazed my eyes as if I were someone ignoring me earlier that day. She visibly slumped and so did the designer dog and kept walking.
I was inspired to write this on the spot in the park and she went past again. I only noticed because she had purposely walkedbetween me and the tree in one meter in front of me. The other side of the tree was a clear area .
I love dogs bu tif I am in the park with strangers I would keep my distance. Normal behavior in the city is people risk getting hit by cars while crossing the street to avoid the risk of someone saying hello:
Turning my head to the right , I laughed when I saw her turn the corner. There’s nothing down there . She had only gotten ready for a conversation and didn’t know what to do
Keep walking bioch.
What behavioral changes do you notice in the large cities?