Now someone had approached me without being asked and offered a small form of help.
I thanked them, perhaps more awkwardly than I intended.
The stranger smiled and told me that the weather had made the evening difficult for everyone. They understood what it was like to be stuck somewhere when plans fell apart.
There was no grand explanation. No sudden revelation. Just a brief conversation between two people who had found themselves in the same crowded station on a miserable night.
But as I began eating, the atmosphere around me seemed to change.
The rain was still falling. The departure board had not suddenly become more encouraging. My phone battery remained low, and I still did not know when I would reach home.
Nothing about the practical situation had changed.
And yet I no longer felt quite as isolated as I had a few minutes earlier.
That was the first unexpected part of the encounter: the stranger had not solved my problems, but they had made the waiting a little easier.
