Strange encounter on the Amtrak

I would say there is a good mix of people on the Amtrak in terms of age and gender and singles/couples/families. I'm guessing I typically don't see the older passenger outside the lounge cars because they've booked the sleepers. But this guy creeped me out. If I was more generous, and sometimes I am, I would say he is socially awkward. All in all, it was an uncomfortable position for a single woman traveling by herself.

He came on the train and sat in the seats across the aisle from me. He sat diagonally, facing me and my window. He had sunglasses on so I couldn’t really tell if he was looking at me or out the window, either way, it felt very uncomfortable. I tried looking up from my book and over couple of times but couldn’t tell. Then he introduced himself to me and told me he was going to Grand Junction. He asked me my name and where I was going. I told him Denver and he said he wished he had enough money to get to Denver.

Side note: When my friends in Denver asked what he looked like, I said “Old, like maybe mid-to-late thirties.” and promptly offended all my friends close to and in that age category. For that, I profoundly apologize, again, for my insensitivity.

I went back to my book, because I was uncomfortable. Then he asked me why I was going to Denver. Rather than engaging in a long conversation about how I quit my job and am now going back to visit my friends, I just said I’m going there to work. Then I went back to my book.

A few minutes later, he told me that the train might get crowded, so if it does, he’ll move to sit next to me. I just nodded and said we’ll see, and hoped that the train wouldn’t actually get that crowded. I wondered if there was any sort of etiquette issues with just getting up and moving and if he would follow me. If that happened then I was going to talk to the conductor about moving somewhere else. At this piong I texted Elena about this guy named Vic, so at least somebody knew just in case anything happened.

A few minutes after that, he told me he thought it would be easier if he just moved next to me now. I looked back and thankfully there was another empty set of seats behind me and I said, “There are still some empty seats right now, so I’ll just move back.” He became very apologetic and said I didn’t have to me. I said, no, it’s ok, I’m just going to move back a row. Even though it wasn’t far as I wanted to go, at least there was a guy behind me (even though he was sleeping) and an old guy across the aisle from him, so I didn’t feel as isolated as I was in the previous seat.

A few minutes after the seat shuffle, he came back to ask me where the lounge car was and headed off once I told him. I took a deep breath and finally relaxed for the first time in a while. Couple of hours later he brought me a bag of cookies when he came back from the lounge car. I thanked him but never at it. It was in a sealed plastic bag, but I just felt so weird about the whole thing that I didn’t want to engage in any way. (I eventually threw them out in Chicago after I took a picture)

At night, around lights out, he came back and told me he moved seats and is sitting up a few rows. He always said it was nice to meet me, and not to worry, he wasn’t getting off yet, and he just wanted to say “see you in Colorado.” And as he is saying this he just kept shaking my hand. I thought to myself, I can’t wait until we get to Grand Junction.

I hoped that was the end of the story, but in the middle of the night, he woke me up twice: once to ask me where we were, and another time to ask me to help him with his coat. When he asked me for help with his coat, I told him he should go ask the conductor because I’m trying to sleep. He didn’t bother me after that. Thankfully, he didn’t come say goodbye when we got to the Grand Junction stop.