I’m on a commuter train to Philadelphia—though it is unclear where I’ve gotten aboard. The passengers have come from everywhere.

I am strangely very well dressed—overcoat of upper tier fabric, coat and pants too, very expensive shoes. However, I am carrying a small duffle bag, with underwear and shaving kit, the bag I bought in high school and used through college. I place the duffle bag under my seat and keep my cell phone, wallet, and glasses on my person as is my custom.

The train is very crowded, or at least the front area of the locomotive is. I am aware that my clothing sets me off distinctly from most everyone else—from the working class and looking-for-work class. A child sits beside me. He has a hand-held gaming unit and is friendly to me—eventually wanting to try out a new game on my cellphone, unavailable on his device, and I let him have it. After a while, I notice he has vanished. I am certain he has stolen my phone, but I feel for it in my vest pocket and it is there—now quite sticky—and I am surprised that, in my side pocket, I find the unit he was playing with originally. I am concerned for him, wonder where he is, and decide to take a stroll and see if I can locate him.

Meanwhile, the train pulls into a station, and all passengers must transfer to a different level—same train, different level. It is then I realize that I left my duffle bag under the seat, and when I return to that location—which is now at the back of the train—there is no bag. I am certain it is lost, and try to recall precisely its contents, but all that really matters is that I have my wallet, cellphone, and glasses on me.

The loss of the duffle bag continues to occupy my mind…

There are more stations with changes of level. At one station, a woman, clearly European, strikes up a conversation, and I feel she is somehow impressed, and deceived, by the style of my clothing. I try to tell her that I am not the type I may appear to be.

At some point, I confirm that the child is okay. It is then that I become aware that there is a profound quantum awareness among these passengers. They all are registering the total situation. Many ride this train often. It is their habitat, a place in which I am the stranger. The loss of my duffle bag is slight charge for my lack of savvy in this transit.

More quickly than expected, there are more stops… de-boarding/re-boarding… but eventually the journey is nearing its end in Union City, New Jersey. That is the actual destination.

I know I have to leave the train. I will have to replace the contents of the missing bag somehow. I need to take a bath, since all the train surfaces have been sticky. But I have a strange confidence in the midst of it all, given the sense of quantum interconnectedness that was revealed to me by the other passengers.