Article June 29, 1998 Issue

A trip on the love train

What to do when it's not easy to love your neighbor

By T. Jewell Collins

IT Was Evening on an overnight train trip. All the lights were off except for one a few seats in front of my children that was shining directly into their eyes. Since the couple with the light on was sitting at the front of the car, we thought they might not be aware that all the other lights were out.

I suggested to my eight-year-old daughter that she ask if they would mind turning out their light. When she asked, I was horrified to hear the woman respond in a most cutting, sarcastic manner, "Oh, the poor thing wants us to shut the light off." She made several other comments in a similar tone to her husband, much to my daughter's bewilderment and my dismay. And they did not turn the light off.

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