Quiet.

Picture this.

I'm sitting on my train, quietly reading, waiting to head towards home.

The door between the coaches opens and Noisy-Know-It-All, who loves to talk (and does for the entire 50 minutes she's on the train), walks through.

I hold my breath.

She doesn't have a purse which I take as a good sign that she's not staying. She shrugs, turns, and returns from whence she came. I guess she's looking for her chatterbox friends.

Thirty seconds later, the door opens again and a woman I've never seen before walks through and approaches my seat.

Lovely woman: "Do you mind if I sneak in here?"

Me: "Not at all."

She sits for a moment, and then:

LW: "Aaahh. It's so quiet here. I've had to move 3 times today. I really just want to sit and read my paper."

(I think she's my new train BFF.)

I smile. The woman beside me (another familiar, silent, traveller) smiles.

I guess Noisy-Know-It-All found her friends.

And we found peace.