I was standing in the area near the door on a crowded train in Sydney one day, and a young man, who appeared developmentally disabled so his manner was like a boy of about 8, was trying to talk to people. I was the only one who responded and everyone was looking at me as if I were crazy. The safety/security thing, I know.

After working in the public library for nearly 20 years I have had enough dealings with people with different disabilities, including psychiatric, to be close to the mark on picking developmental from psychiatric, so he didn't pose a threat as far as I could see, but being open, friendly and chatty on a suburban train in Sydney is pretty scary to a lot of Sydneyites.

From what the man was saying he was from the country and had used his free train pass to come to Sydney for the day on the "red rattler" - a country term for the old wooden train carriages which were still operating then. I was only on the train for a couple of stops so I guess he just got ignored again when I got off.

Helen