Last week, I ran a poll asking if you had a secret friend on transit: somebody you see on transit all the time, but never talk to.

And after 118 votes, 73% said they DID have a secret friend! (The remaining 27% didn’t, of course.)

Comments on this poll were a lot of fun to read. So many of us have secret friends that we never ever engage with! Here’s a great story from Dan B:

I see two guys on the bus — one gets on one stop after mine, another two stops after mine. We ride the same bus and train every day and we work at the same company, yet we’ve never spoken to each other nor do we know each other’s names. We spend a total of 45 minutes of travel time using the bus and SkyTrain — even the elevator sometimes! — yet we never feel this urge to even say “hi”. I like to call those people my “secret transit co-workers”.

And here’s a comment from EL — who actually did make a real friend from a transit friend :)

Several years ago when I was still going to school, I would bump into the same girl who takes the exact same route as I to school every morning. Now, our commute is approx. 1.25h in the morning, and 1.5h back in the afternoon. After a few weeks into the semester, I started talking to her and we became “commuting buddies” for that semester. We had quite a bit in common, took the very same undergrad courses, etc. We added each other to MSN, and still run into each other from time to time after that semester. It pays off to meet new people while at the bus stop. Although it’s probably easier to chat up people if you’re the around the same age and if you’re a girl. =P

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Time for a new poll! This one was suggested by Dan B during the last poll.

Discuss why or why not in the comments :) And for crushees — what’s it like to be approached? Do you find it weird when people just start talking to you on transit? Has it ever actually lead to some kind of relationship?