**
Old man alighted at the main piazza stop, taking stabbing huffs on an inhaler. As he took the seat beside mine, I could see his body trembling and a look of growing concern furrow the brow of the woman sat opposite. After a couple of minutes, she leaned forward, tapped him lightly on the knee, and asked if he was alright. From behind the comfort of my headphones I couldn’t follow the exact conversation, but in this silent theatre she mimed using an inhaler and used the universal sign for “me too!” which seemed to settle everything down. The old man seemed to unknot himself over the next twenty minutes, during which I worried about how I would render first aid should he suddenly stiffen and keel forward onto the narrow floor.