Crying on the bus

This morning someone elbowed me in the head on the bus. You'd be surprised how often this happens -- I'm so short that my head is right at elbow level of a tall person. One reason I hate crowds. But this time, he hit me so hard that it actually brought tears to my eyes. (In fact, it still hurts a little.)

Ordinarily, I might have sniffled a little and then recovered. But I'm pregnant. Once I started crying, I just couldn't stop. At first no one noticed, because it's the bus and people are making an effort to ignore each other. But then I had to move back so more people could squeeze in, and I ended up right next to a girl who took one look at me and offered to get up so I could sit. "No, I'm fine," I sobbed, because even though until that point I had been crying quietly, the minute someone is nice to me I start crying even harder, like a little kid who's totally fine but starts bawling when his mom comes over. She said, "No, I really think you should sit down," and got up. I thanked her, sat down, and looked as hard as I could out the window. I didn't really stop crying until after I had boarded the subway and was halfway to work. I ended up chatting with the girl during the subway ride. When she got off, I thanked her again and she said, "Anyone who wouldn't do the same is not a good person!"

I was a little embarrassed at first to be the only mess in a sea of functional adults. But it's not like I saw anyone I knew.