Mad men

There was a mad man on the bus today. I was in it with a number of other people and we first heard his cry as he encouraged everyone to get on the bus before him.
"Chop chop. All aboard. Come on then!" He roared.

He kept repeating himself until everyone except he had boarded. Interestingly the commuters getting on were bemused and half smiling at the man's actions. It was, after all, quite a gentlemanly, albeit insane gesture.

The man continued to ramble about technology and how it made people stupid.

"The more intelligence people have the less common sense!" He roared.

Another older man chipped in with an "I agree with yer" and solid nod.

"Technology has totally destroyed our society. There's nothing good about it at all!" He yelled and sat down next to a middle aged woman.

"I think that's a little harsh" she said in a measured voice. "I think you're being a little harsh there."

The madman moved on to another vacant seat and boomed to someone completely different, "Well let me ask you then. If your step daughter was killed by a drug dealer would you hang them?"
The reply which came a moment later belonged to a male worker with a briefcase.

"People don't just got out and kill - "

"My stepdaughter was killed by a drug dealer and if you don't think they should hang then you're stupid!"

The worker's voice was soft "I'm sorry to hear that"

"If your child were killed then you can tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I'm wrong!"

At this point I wondered if this is why the mad man was yelling. So he could obtain some free and public counselling for his past trauma? Did he simply need a session of group therapy?

The mad man continued his train of thought.

"He should be hanged shouldn't he?!"

The worker with the briefcase replied, "I don't think he should"

"Why not!?"

"Because I don't support capital punishment"

"Well then. There should be sign put up 12 months before it happens and then if he does murder anyone he should be hanged." The madman smiled and the worker then laughed. For a moment their eyes locked and there existed a bizarre but authentic human connection.

In fact, I could see people smiling and making jokes about their phones to other commuters around them.

The madman pressed the bell and made his final address with a fist raised in the air.

"Good luck to you all!"

"Good luck to yer" said another man.

And then the madman stepped off the bus. People looked back down at their phones and silence filled the cabin. The air felt a little colder and emptier and the bus drove on. The sound of an engine, the sound of breathing, the darting of eyes.