Tales from the El

Prior to my civ pro final I had met up with a friend to go over some practice problems. Shortly after boarding the train to go home, a guy got on at the other end of the car, but chose the seat facing mine. He struck me as homeless and potential laboring under some additional deficit: he rocked back and forth forcefully, without any apparent reason. This is not the interesting part. I wouldn't have noticed much at all, except, as we neared Argyle, a woman came from the center of the car and approached him. She leaned down and in an incredibly kind, heartfelt, and sincere tone she inquired, "Sir, is everything okay?" Without missing a beat (a tick?) he tersely replied, "YEAH! WHY WOULDN'T IT BE?" As she disembarked, I found myself wondering what just happened. Was he lucid and sarcastic? Or oblivious? Was she new to the city? Or just new to the El? Will she ever again try and comfort a complete stranger? Why didn't he ask her for a dollar?