Long, Strange Day

For reference in the rest of this post, I need to explain the "levels" the Japanese train systems use. Also, I'm talking trains, not subways. Every subway I've ridden has stopped at every stop on the line, which is why they tend to be fairly short in terms of overall distance.
Now, if you look at the following table, you can see a bunch of squiggles that are kanji. The top row shows the Japanese as it's written, the middle shows the reading in roman letters, and the last is the meaning when translated. None of this is really important, but what you should know is that as you move to the right on the table, the train will stop at more places. A 普通 ("local") train stops at every stop, while a 特急 ("special express") will only stop at large transfer stations.

快特	特急	快速(快急)	急行	準急	区急(区準)	普通
kaitoku	tokkyuu	kaisoku (kaikyuu)	kyuukou	junkyuu	koukyuu (I think)	futsuu
Special Rapid Express	Special Express	Rapid Express	Express	Semi-Express	Sub-Express	Local

To get to Umeda, for example, you can take the Hankyu 普通 train bound for Umeda (a part of Osaka) and it will take roughly an hour and 10 minutes because it stops for a little while at e-v-e-r-y stop along the way. About 15 stops, I think. On the other hand, the 通動快速* stops at, I think, four, and gets me back to my house from Umeda in about 40 minutes.
*As I mentioned in this post, these are a near-mystical creature, and that's why it's not on the table.

I dropped off Roxanne at the airport (KIX) today, and it was relatively uneventful. After going to get Jes and dropping her off, this third time back felt kind of old hat. I guess Japan decided that meant it would be a good time to throw me a curve.*

There was some kind of accident - that's the extent of the details I have, before anybody asks - on the normal Japan Railways line that I've used to go back and forth to the airport, so it wasn't running until some later time. They let me* board the Nankai (a different railway company with different tracks that uses a different part of the same station) line free of charge, which I thought was pretty cool. Not only that, but they apparently got the word out fast enough that, by the time I got to my first transfer, they knew what was going on and let me through all well and good. That's a pretty good system, if you ask me.
*By "me", I mean "me and all the other people who were too stupid to listen to the announcement and bought tickets on the JR line". And no, not just us stupid foreigners did that.

On the way back, I took a 区急, which I don't know how to read and can't find any useful information on. I think it may be kukyuu but it may be koukyuu. The latter sounds more official-sounding, so that's what I went with on the table.
I also took a 快速 kaisoku ("limited express" - it skips more stations than a semi-express, but less than a special express) sat by someone who I think was a hobo. Japanese hobos have a special smell about them, and this guy had that fairly strongly. He also had this super-old MP3 player, though, so I don't know what to think about that.

To top it off, I went to ask a random person a question on the way back and he ignored me, looked away, and quickened his pace. I quickened my pace a little to match him and put on my gloves. After about a block of this, he took a sharp corner - backwards - and I went on my merry way and asked a couple of people that were down the road who seemed quite happy to talk to me. Or well, you know.