It was started when I uploaded a candid shot on my Instagram account, picturing gentlemen who had been standing still for hours on the same Busway I took to work. I captioned the photo with "Fighters of the Family" title. Just minutes after that, a funny friend of mine (jokingly) commented on this photo and asked me to write something I perceived as a short, perfunctory essay. No, not about those misters, but about a woman whom I refer as 'the leaner' in this writing.
We directly witnessed this woman on her late 20s or early 30s in one sunny morning. She stood right next to me on a very packed TransJakarta, while my out-of-the-blue company stood in front of me. I was already trapped between the bus door and her with no more space left between us, and all of sudden this sleepy woman was very comfortably leaning on my shoulder and towards my body during our trip to Jakarta's CBD, which took about 1.5 hours at that time. I could only tell my aches and sighs via BBM to my very fella, and we could only share some ironic laughters quietly.
P.S. Imagine how many hours of massage I needed to receive afterward because of this event, plus to make up for the hours spent sitting still in front of my desktop PC at the office and standing still (again) on my way home. Sore shoulders, sore legs, and sore back there were - though most people have always been commenting on my stable body weight. Well then, thanks to those weekday routines (minus the extra 'leaners')?
Back to the story, I was having my very own thoughts regarding this event. First, I am not used to have direct physical contact with strangers other than handshakes, even when the persons are in the same sex as me. If that lucky lady happened to be my friend, sure I'd have embraced her and might have given her some pats on the back as well (or puk-puk as Indonesians like to say it).
Second, my position prior to her leaning was a pity already, let alone more weight added to my standing body. Imagine me as the very bottom layer of a layer cake (yes, the ordinary layer cake, not the Surabaya-style one), or the very bottom bun of a heavily-loaded burger.
Third, I actually wondered how someone could fall into a chronically-sleepy state while standing and being surrounded by an overcrowded environment. My theoretical scenarios of that lady, or 'the morning leaners' in general are as follows:
1) These people are simply sleepyheads - they are easily asleep and can sleep anywhere, anytime, anyway. If they happen to sleep so deeply, please just don't salivate on my work shirt
2) My shoulders alone aren't that pillowy, but my overall body is, thus sufficiently comfortable for people to lean their figure on. If only my belly fat could be spread over more proportionally, people would want to rest on me even more
3) These 'leaners' just had a rough, exhausting day at home / work. Maybe they just finished work at 4 am, or couldn't spend the night sleeping soundly because of a constantly crying baby at their house [insert more if you want...]
4) They miss cuddling with their significant others who are currently away from home (or whom they are yet to find :)
5) They are feeling unwell or fatigued or dizzy or sick (please prevent vomiting on me out of nowhere...)