Avi's Diary Thingy - ver. 15 - Let That City Take You In...

1:26 p.m.
2002-09-14
Trouble with Trains

I need to start making my way home soon. I guess all my being out, going to school, having a life, is causing my mother too much stress. *points out that she has said this in an incredibly bitter voice*

I need to move out.

Trains are some of the most upsetting things on this planet, and especially in this city. They're supposed to be dependable, be able to get you from place to place in a specific amount of time. Because they're so to the minute on their schedules, and because they're supposed to be reliable, you base your schedule around that. If you catch this one train, it'll get you to your other train just in time to catch that one, and you'll be home in plenty of time for whatever you need to do.

That is not always the case.

Take Friday for example. I got to the Brown Line at Fullerton with plenty of time to catch a train and get to LaSalle, where I catch my Metra train home. I needed to get on the 3:25, because I had work at 4:30, and needed time to get dressed, and then pick up my mom. The train ride from LaSalle to 99th St. is about 25-27 minutes (give or take), so it would all work out, and I'd be either right on time for work, or maybe a minute late.

Well, it would have worked out, had the Brown Line train gotten to Fullerton at 3:01. It got there at 3:07. I was getting a trifle nervous then, but I figured, hey, fifteen minutes to LaSalle...that's 3:22. If I jog, I'll get the train. I ran and got the 3:50 the previous day, and although I nearly died (I'm asthmatic), I still made it. I figured I could do it again.

But I'll be damned if the Brown Line didn't do it to me again. At Merchandise Mart (three stops before mine), the conductor announces that since she fucked up and ran the train late, it was going to run express. The next stop would be Library/State and VanBuren (don't make fun of my accent, Sarah, Alex, and Kate), which is exactly one stop after mine.

So I had a choice to make. Did I get off the train at MM, and definitely miss my 3:25, or hope that the train got to L/S&VB at an amazing speed, and then run the two and a half blocks (more or less) from that station to the LaSalle Street Station? Being the stupid person I tend to be, I opted for the latter.

I literally bolted off the train at L/S&VB, scrambled down the stairs, and took off for LaSalle, running like someone was chasing me. I had to stop at a light, but when traffic started to get backed up, I risked my life to run through it and make my way to the Station. I changed to speedwalking once I hit One Financial Plaza (which is connected to the station), thinking I was going to make it. I hit the platform running again, and got to track six, where the 3:25 Joliet Sub-line waits.

And I watched it pull away.

I cried. I stood there and cried. There was no way I was getting to work on time now. I could barely breathe, and it was all for naught.

Luckily for me, I was only about fifteen minutes late for work, but I felt bad because Jen had been having a bad day as it was, and she had been there for about five hours already, and was going to be there for another three. But Mary was two hours late, so I didn't feel so bad after that, especially after Jen went home at seven instead of eight.

But I learned a lesson. A few, actually. First, always leave ten minutes earlier than you planned, even if you're feeling blue. Second, don't run two and a half blocks. It sucks large, especially when you run in sandals and with a bookbag.

And the most important, which I've already voiced, is that there's always another one coming.

Quote for the Day: "...I want to decide between survival and bliss..." --"Precious Illusions", Alanis Morissette

take you in :: spit you out