Time Spotting

Train Station Observation Decks (TSODs) are strange places. Because they have been built to observe all time streams, you can often find people sitting there for hours, watching departed loved ones board trains at various times in the past. It’s hard not to get emotional when you see a father pointing out “Mommy” to a 4-year-old as they watch reruns of her boarding from before a tragic accident or illness.

I think they’re cool because you can watch a frequent traveller occupy the same space, walking through or inside themselves as they board or get off trains from the past and the future. It’s always a fun game to try to identify an old person when he or she is a young child. You see them on the platform, waiting for trains from two different centuries, often standing side by side. I don’t like to watch myself from the past, because it’s frustrating not to be able to talk to myself to warn me of mistakes I know I’m about to make. But, it is reassuring to get a glimpse of myself in the future; at least I’m alive, though I can see that my posture never improves.

Whenever I board a train now, I wave toward the observation deck. A lot of people do that. Then when you see yourself wave, it’s like seeing an old friend. You’ve probably seen videos people have made dancing or pretending to interact with multiple versions of themselves. Do you like hanging out at TSODs? Do you ever try to give past or future yous a message from the platform? Please share your TSOD experiences in the comments section, below.

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For a short story about a man who got off a train, click the daisy: