One of my favorite purchases I have ever made was a pair of sunglasses with a prescription. I got them when I realized how dangerous it was to drive during the golden hour, and when the first wrinkles showed up under my eyes. No more squinting.
I was on my way to Kyiv to check out Serhii Chyrkov’s stand-up show. Russians launched mass air attacks almost every night in May 2023. Despite the terror, though, life went on and humor was one of the resources that maintained people’s spiritual and mental health, in those days.
I have arrived in Kyiv and switched to public transportation. It took me some time to realize I was wearing shades in a poorly lit Kyiv underground. I felt like a superstar trying to sneak into places unrecognized. I wish I had a cap, though, for a complete transformation.
“The doors are closing”
Plenty of vacant seats were available on the train, so I picked the one in a cozy corner at the end of the train. I put my backpack filled with clothes on my lap and got comfortable after the 3-hour road trip. A little bit into my half-sleep journey, a little girl with her father got on the train at the next station. She took a seat right next to me with her father, a 40-ish-year-old man with an injured leg and a walking stick standing beside her.
Please take a seat. – I immediately offered my seat to the man once I noticed his injury.
I am ok. Thank you. No need for that – the man assured me with a kind voice.
Please, do take a seat – I almost begged him.
It’s not comfortable for me to be seated. Thank you, though.
Another man wearing a military uniform sitting nearby had an injured leg as well. They greeted each other non-verbally, and the train resumed its movement while I couldn’t hold my tears back hiding them behind a pair of sunglasses in Kyiv-metro.