How do I hate the red line? let me count the ways...

[cthulhia]

Scurrying down the bike path, I opt not to get coffee to go. Looking at the time, I realize I could be at work on time, by 9 am, even.

So, 8:37 am or so, board the train.

Sit in Davis for 5+ minutes. Sit between the stations. I'm exactly enough Type A to feel my blood pressure rise every time they announce "Harvard Square" and we keep not being there. I'm too far away from the speakers to hear the non-recorded messages explaining train delays as anything more than a Peanuts-like adult mumble.

I got several chapters of reading done, bonded with my nearby prisoners (except for the one reading the God book, who kept her back turned the moment she saw my book was about pagan warriors), contemplated mugging other people on the train for their coffee, and, eventually, started mentally calculating the likely percentage of people in this LJ community stuck on the same damned train with me.

It was AFTER 9:20 pm when we finally were liberated at Park Street.

::

(I think that's dykeprincess. We met once, dolled up for one of those Dukes/Dykes events. She might possibly look like that in commuter clothes. We - the mystery commuter woman and I - chatted it up once on a slow train. I figure she was probably someone I'd technically met already. It could be that I just started looking familiar because we'd been on the same commute for months. ... I need a button that says "No worries, I don't remember your name either.")

Comments

[brigid.livejournal.com]

i was stuck on that train this morning

[komos.livejournal.com]

From what I understand, the roads were no great shakes either.

And yes, I felt your pain.

[tikva.livejournal.com]

I was stuck on a train about half an hour later, having the same problem. (switching problems at Kendall)

Took half an hour to go four stops. I thought I was going to chew through something.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I was on an earlier crawling train. There was also a medical emergency on the Kendall platform when we finally passed it (at about 9am), so I wasn't sure whether the original issue had been the medical one or something else.

[barkingpanther.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain. I got to the Davis stop at like...7:15 this AM or so, and the platform was packed. So naturally the first inbound train would beep right on by us, then the train that would eventually pick us up was of course packed to the proverbial gills...not to mention unecessary between station stops between Harvard and Central, and then again just sitting at Central for an unexplained 10 minute rest...

Okay, so I hate the red line. But! It's still better than the O-line, or any of the green lines...LOTS better than the commuter rail...or the bus...HATE the bus...

rambling/ranting....done.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

yup. that was me stuck with you. unfortunately, i'm very good at remembering names. we also ate dinner after the show at punjabi dhaba and had a nice conversation about lj. i don't usually approach people that i've only met a little because i don't want to make them uncomfortable with the fact that i remember them, so i usually wait until they approach me. but yeah, the ride was totally exasperating, i had to take it all the way to park street.

[hyperliminal.livejournal.com]

haha, I was at that dinner at the Dhaba. Hey, Cthulhia, who probably wouldn't recognize me in a crowded train :D

ok

[cthulhia]

everyone looks like someone I know. I find myself having to fight the habit to not greet every guy in boston with a fuzzy ponytail and carrying a laptop-shaped bag, because there is a real possibility that I don't know him.

A couple days ago, there was a vaguely familiar looking guy at Park Street. he had a left-bank biker jacket, so it was shoot, I MUST know this guy. So, i went over and told him as much, we re-introduced ourselves, reminisced about the time he gave me a ride home from harvard square sharing a single passenger seat with cos and bonded over my memory of best/worst company holiday party ever (back in the boonies), where those of us who got trashed on the scorpion bowls at least avoided food poisoning. We were all bonding and stuff, and...

I have already forgotten his name again!

I suck.

Not that this is news or anything...

[kvarko.livejournal.com]

Cos has a LJ? Cool.

[marylu.livejournal.com]

I was also on the endless train ride this morning. fortunately, I did stop for coffee first and ended up sitting across from a school acquaintance that I like a lot, so we proceeded to talk for the entire ride - violating the silent rush hour subway etiquette and annoying everyone around us. also fortunately, my bosses were either late or nowhere to be found when I strolled in at 9:45.
p.s. the non-recorded messages you missed all said such helpful things as "we are experiencing delays."

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I've noticed that this is most likely to happen to me when I think I am running on time, maybe even a bit early, and dare to congratulate myself for having gotten out of the house early enough to not have to rush. The commuting gods punish me for my hubris.

hmmm

[cthulhia]

perhaps it was the Davis Square Gods Punishing me for not buying a coffee there first?

Re: hmmm

[frederic.livejournal.com]

Buying a coffee at Diesel didn't help me get to work any quicker. But it (and the blueberry scone) did make me less miserable during the wait though...

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Yup, first day of my first full week at work in the new year, and I'm hey, it's not quite a resolution but I'm gonna try to get my ass out of the house on time more often, and today I did that, and had even had breakfast, and got lunch ready, and took the garbage out. Go me! I'll be at work by 8:45 maybe. Certainly by 9. I'm pleased as punch with myself.

Actual arrival time: just about 9:30.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

The Red Line was running just fine at 6:45 am. I should have taken a later train, I'd have gotten more reading done.

me too</aol>

[ranger1.livejournal.com]

Yup, I was stuck on one of the slow trains yesterday. Meant to get off at Kendall but jumped out at Central and walked instead.

Here's what I don't get: the trains would quickly stop and board at the stations like they normally would, but they waited in between stations for several minutes at a time. Hmm, let's see... where is the best place to stop the train for an extended period of time, when it's jam-packed with passengers? A dark tunnel where the ventilation is lousy? Or a well-lit station platform with lots of (relatively) fresh air? Could they show just a little more contempt for their customers? Really. Just to see if it's possible. :P

I felt really bad for anyone who was claustrophobic.