Mute button

Today on the subway a large group of teenage schoolchildren boarded and stayed on for about five stops. They were very loud, screaming and giggling when the train lurched forward, complaining flirtatiously to each other that someone was squishing against them, and stepping on each other's toes. The entire car was nearly bursting at the seams with noise, which you don't often hear in silent commuter trains. Then they got off in a chattering herd, the car doors closed, and silence once again enveloped the car's interior. People continued to bury their noses in books and newspapers, as if nothing had ever happened, as if no tempest of bouncing decibels had invaded the car and then vanished into thin air.