Skip to main content

Thursday, August 25. And I Left Early For What?

Ok so.  I get up on time, after only getting three hours of sleep.  I got very little sleep because I braided my hair last night and it took a very long time. I did those double-stranded mini twists. It looks so good! (If I do say so myself!) But it took me a very long time to complete it, and complete it I did because I kinda work in the corporate world and I don't think it wise to show up with half your head done... Kinda 80's punk rockish. :-) Which I'm convinced would look very cool, in my personal life.

But back to the story. So I get myself out of the house early (How I did that I will never know...) and to the train platform, excited that I am early and just might get a seat today. So I stand there and wait for a train to come.  As I wait, I start day dreaming about all kinds of things. I'm a newly wed (Thank you, thank you! You're very sweet to think that's cool and wish me well!) so I am thinking about my husband, and last night, :-), and his lovely mom, and my beautiful, wonderful mom and how much she loves my hubby, and family, and friendship (Thank you guys! I love you!) and babies, and money, and New York City versus the south, and living in a closet versus an acre of land and 4 bedroom home for the same price, and sun flowers, and animal crackers, (Mmmmm tasty) and the Dixie Classic Fair, and where is summer going, and Spain, Hershey's milk chocolate bars with graham crackers and marshmallows over fire, and where is my blackberry--haven't seen it in 2 weeks, and fried chicken (I am ALWAYS thinking about fried chicken!) and applesauce, and church, and how much God loves me (I'm blessed!), and my cat because he's not feeling well, and his vet because I need to call him, and my upcoming NC road trip, and my personal microphone because I finally bought a chord, and my hubby again because he's very sweet and kind, and hurricane Irene because I'm so not in the mood for her messing up the end of the summer, and wait... Where is the train? Where is the train?

I look at my iPhone (watch...same difference) and see that I have 20 minutes to get to work. It takes at least 22 once I am on the train! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?   Where is the train??! I start feeling the panic.  Nothing, in this city I love/hate so much, is ever in my control. UGhhhhh! It's exhausting to try and try and do your part in a city that has a mind of it's own.  So MTA decided I would NOT be arriving to work on time today.  Another three minutes go by and finally a train pulls into the station. Is it me or is the train looking at me as if it's doing me a favor?  The doors spring gracefully open and I rush in (As if that'll speed things up.) to find quite a few empty seats. I rush to one, immediately before run, leap, push lady shows up, and I sit down, hurriedly, anticipating the train to move and begin my commute.  Maybe I won't be very late, after all.  I am only 3 minutes behind, at this point. We sit there another loooooong minute and finally, the doors close and we're off.  We're trucking along and finally, we get to 34th Street.  The train stops and let's the people off.  

I look at my iPhone (watch...same difference) and see that I am now 7 minutes late, as it is 8:01 AM.  We only have three more stops--the third one is mine--and if you figure approximately two minutes per stop, I shouldn't be more than 7 minutes late. I'm very accurate about these things because (Rockwell) "I always feel like somebody's watchin' me." The doors stay open. Ummm...my mind begins to ponder what is happening. I look at the doors and give them my best eye glare. Close! I command them with my eyes. Close now! They defy me. Two minutes have gone by.  Across the platform,  a different train pulls into the station.  When their doors open, there is a mass exodus from my train to the newly arrived one.  My mind jumps up to full alert. Sleepiness momentarily leaves me. "Where's everyone going?" my brain exclaimed to itself while trying to figure it out. Before it could answer itself, the train across the platform pulled off and my mouth fell open.  I had tried so hard to be early. What a bummer. The conductor of the train I was on came over the loud speak just then and said, "The train is being held at the station due to train traffic ahead."  No D'uh!!  You let someone cut in line, I wanted to scream.  But I sat quietly. Was the loudspeaker broken when the last train pulled into the station? Could he not make an announcement to say that it would leave before us?   

My mom always said, "Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."  This was one of those times I recognized there was nothing to be done but arrive when I can. I arrived at 8:10 AM.  Sigh. I tried. What more can you do?

Lesson:  Never try? Nah. Try, and try again.  One day you will win. :-) With MTA it could take a while...

A Girl Changing The World



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday, September 14. Let's Just Get Past This Work Day

Ok so. Some work days are better left undiscussed.  You go through the motions and you move on.  It's not that one is that much different from the next...it's more a case of how you feel about the daily activities.  I awoke very tired.  I had not been getting much sleep.  It's really that simple.  But it's funny that when you try to talk about your feelings with most people they never quite understand the magnitude of how you feel because they are not experiencing the same thing as you at the moment.  However, have you ever noticed that when they do go through something they lose it, freak out, shut down, etc.? With all that being said, I was feeling in such a way that my morning commute didn't even matter. I was tired.  My body hurt. My eyes were heavy and wanted to close. I had to press my way through the day even though all I wanted was to go back to bed and get some good sleep! All I can tell you is that I got to the train, got on the train, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thursday, September 8. The Sigher...

Ok so. We're all packed on the train. It's still raining.  You know how it is when the earth is super dirty and you start growing gills because you swim instead of walk.  Well, it's been raining like that . This is like day 400 of grey, cloudy, rainy mess and people are over it.  It's enough to be packed shoulder to face to butt to backpack with strangers, but wet strangers is even worse.  We all want the train to hurry up and let us off! But no.  Why would it do that?  After all, it is the New York City subway system.  Life is supposed to be a challenge...an adventure, even, when you ride the train.  I mean, think about it, if nothing ever happened, you'd be quite bored.  Or is the word, content? Hmmm...there's a fine line.  I digress. The sigher. (Sigh) So we're packed into our car on the train, dripping wet, and trying to maneuver our backpacks, pocketbooks, tote bags, and umbrellas so they are not poking or nudging, or dripping o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tuesday, August 23. Are You Serious?! Who Would Do That?!!

Ok so.  I know I said the first blog posting would be gross but this one takes the cake. I don't even know that I should mention cake in the body of this post... You may not want to eat after you read this one.  Those of you with a weak stomach, just move on now.  Everyone else may want to read this as it ends in a very important warning. I rush up the block, get on the train, actually get a seat, ride to my stop in Manhattan, get off the train, am rushing up the stairs to the freedom of the outdoors, and run into a massive people traffic jam.  I'm thinking, "Oh come on! I'm finally early and you guys are piddling around at the exit?!" What gives, I wonder. Well I soon find out. Someone decided to leave all of us commuters a few big fat, brown, smelly insults on nearly all of the stairs leading to the outdoors. They were all over the stairs.  If you stepped left on one, you would have to hop over the next stair and immediately step right before you foot lands....
Post a Comment
Read more