Evening rush hour on the 2 train: A middle-aged woman dashes between the closing doors and trips over a seated man's foot.Woman: Sorry.

Man nods, doesn't say anything.

Woman, touching her forehead a little flustered: I'm sorry I ran into you.

Man: No worries.

Woman: I just saw my son on the platform. Out of the blue. Of all people…

Man, now with an unmistakable British accent: I ran into a mate of mine from Leeds on the L train.

Woman: Isn't that the strangest? It's like kismet or something.

Man: You think being in New York you can escape. You can't. It's like an alternate universe. It's the smallest city in the world.

Just then I take a sideways glance at the woman sitting next to me. We're both reading the same book (Three Cups of Tea — highly recommended) and we're reading the same page at the same time. You better believe this city is small.

Jacquelin Cangro