signs
The Stranger on the Train
PublishedJanuary 27, 2026
Reads34
Story byAlex T
A random conversation with a stranger on a train solved a problem I had been stuck on for months.
I was stuck on a coding problem for my startup's main product. I was traveling to clear my head. A woman sat next to me and we started talking about patterns in nature. Something she said about 'fractals repeating' triggered a solution in my mind. I opened my laptop and fixed the bug in 20 minutes. I never got her name.",