Seen on the Metro: Rapid Reader

Last week, the DC metro was on fire. (Nothing unusual there, sadly.) I planned on leaving my apartment later than usual because I had a dentist appointment. When I got the alerts, I considered my options and opted to take a circuitous route to the dentist - it involved going the opposite direction on the train and then taking a bus to my final destination.

When I hopped on the train, a rather tall, dapperly-dressed gentleman was right behind me. He ended up sitting in the seat across from me. As the train got moving, he removed an older looking book from his backpack. It was hardcover with an embossed illustration of a middle eastern looking city. These days, I mainly see e-books and paperbacks on the train. It was a nice change of pace to see something a bit more classic. 

Above the illustration was the title, City of Thieves. A quick search online tells me there are a lot of books by this title. I was unable to find a copy of this particular edition so I can't tell you what the book is about but it must have been enjoyable. My fellow commuter was flying through the pages and barely seemed to notice that our ride was rather herky-jerky.

We both detrained at Bethesda station and, while I walked up the escalator, I noticed our reader still reading as he rode the stairs out of the station. He looked about halfway through the book when I saw him. At the pace he was reading, I assume he has long since moved on to another title.