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Monday, August 29. I know They Said Delays But It Is Coming, Right?

Ok so. In lieu of the hurricane that passed over the entire East coast this past weekend, the NYC MTA was shut down in case of flooding and other electrical problems.  I think that was very smart of them.  They announced on Sunday that they should have everything up and running for Monday morning's commute, however, they warned us to expect delays. 

Now, I have to tell you that the MTA says to expect delays anytime something normal happens...it rains, there's a Yankees game, the President's in town (as if he is riding the train), the sun shines. (You get the idea.) So it didn't move me to leave any earlier that 20-30 minutes.  My commute is only 22 minutes long, once a train picks me up; and since I don't have to be at work until 8:00, I thought arriving to the train platform at 7:08 AM was doing something special! I mean let's face it... in order to get up, get dressed, feed the cat, kiss the hubby, get out the door, walk/run 3 1/2 blocks, swipe my metro card, swipe it again because the system likes to mess with people who are rushing and tell them to swipe again, and get to the train platform by 7:08...means I had to get up at 6:00, wake up the roosters, and take off running.  I get to the train platform and there are people already there waiting.  An empty platform means you've just missed a train, so I think I'm doing great, right?

Well, I am standing there on that train platform, beaming with pride at my accomplishment and waiting for the train to come...expecting it to be there within 10, maybe 15 minutes at the most.  I have a song in my heart and a smile on my face. I'm jolly.  In my head, I am singing a song that kinda goes like this: "I'm gonna get there early! I'm gonna get there early! Hee hee hee hee hee hee, hee hee hee hee heeeeee heeeee!"  Yeah, I know, jolly, like I said.  So I'm waiting...and waiting...and waiting.  And eventually, I look at my iPhone/watch (same difference) and see that I've been waiting for nearly 25 minutes for a train!  It's now 7:33 AM and I am still waiting at 7:40.  I sigh.  I remember the quote my mom always says when I start a complaint with, "But I planned..."  She always says, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."--which I think she got from the book, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck....or maybe from Robert Burns' poem, To A Mouse.  Either way, she seems to love to use that on me.  I can see the humor in her eyes when she says it, as if to say, "Ha! And you think you are in control?!"  So I sigh and I resolve to wait.  After all, the entire city was just shut down, so why should I expect things to go according to my plan? A couple of minutes later, a train pulls into the station.  Is it me or is she screaming for help this morning?

The train is packed, and I mean packed, to the hilt.  I squeeze myself in and hold on. I'm on my way.  I arrive in the office, surprisingly, only 15 minutes late.  Sigh. And the work week begins.

Lesson:  You are not in control.  It's that simple.

A Girl Changing The World

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