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?
A Girl Changing The World
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