I don’t know what constitutes a lot of e-mail, but I certainly get my share. It seems like a lot to me. Therefore, I take every opportunity I can to stay on top of it, including en route to work while on Metrolink (the commuter train in Los Angeles).

Today I found a seat across from a woman, who is probably in her late 20s or early 30s, and started in. She politely said “Good morning” and continued doing her make-up.

Somehow, at some point, she told me that she was on the Metrolink train that crashed into the freight train in Chatsworth (a suburb of LA) about one month ago. I believe 25 people died in that crash.

While looking at her describe the events of that afternoon, I could see a sadness and extreme vulnerability in her eyes and voice. I quickly realized that she needed to talk to me, a stranger, about that day. The pain and fear must still be present, and she admitted that.

Without going on forever here about a topic very far away from MMA, let me say that this was a gentle woman and obviously a very kind woman who lived through a traumatic experience. I hope lending an ear to her for five minutes somehow helped to ease her pain.

As this woman said to me, she now has a greater appreciation for the mundane aspects of life. As Wordsworth once said, the world really is too much with us.

Lesson learned.   

— DJ 

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