Her Train Of Thought Is Still Boarding At The Station

I’m in a subway carriage going home after a long day of work. Luckily, it’s not crowded. A woman about sixty years old gets in and sits more or less opposite from me. 

After a minute, staring at no one in particular, she loudly asks the void:

Older Lady: “Is this the red one?”

Our subway system has different colors on the outside of the carriages for different lines, but they’re usually referred to by numbers or by destination. I’m blanking on which color is which line, but a passenger next to me answers.

Passenger #1: “Yes, it’s Line 1.”

A couple of minutes go by, and we pass a station with several signs indicating a line exchange to Line 2. She pipes up again, staring at some point a meter above my head.

Older Lady: “Does this go to [Station A]?”

That’s the endpoint of Line 2.

Me: “No! It’s going to [Station B].”

Passenger #1: “No, for [Station A], you’d have to change lines.”

Passenger #2: “I’m going in that direction; I’ll change lines at the next station. I can show you the way!”

Older Lady: “No, no. I’m going to [Station C].”

This is located on this line and in the direction we’re headed.

Me: “Okay, then you’re on the right train!”

Older Lady: “Nah, you are all wrong. This is headed to [Station A].”

Passenger #1: “What? No, it’s headed to [Station B]!”

Passenger #2: “This is Line 1, in [Station B]’s direction. It will pass through your station.”

The older lady replies, still looking at no one:

Older Lady: “No. It’s you guys who’ve got the wrong train!” *Harrumph*

Thinking to myself, “Lady, why the f*** did you ask, then?”, I decided there was no point in trying to help her and went back to scrolling social media on my phone; the other two passengers soon did the same. 

Interestingly, although she seemed so convinced that we were giving out the wrong information, she did as instructed and kept on until [Station C], and she exited while avoiding my and [Passenger #1]’s pointed looks.