I only need to travel to our office twice a month. The 2nd Wednesday and the last Friday. I've been having a really tough time getting to the Wednesday meeting.
Bernie has been out of town and Gigi has severe abandonment issues so I can't leave her home alone for the 30 minutes extra I need to catch the correct train from Princeton.
Its strange trying to raise another persons child. If she were my flesh and blood I wouldn't feel like I was making mistakes. I'd say, "Hey, when its 8:00 go out the back door and walk up to the corner..." and that would be the end of it. I feel like for some reason she'd miss the bus and start freaking out. She goes crazy if she thinks no one is home when she arrives from school.
Anyway, I get to the train station nice and early, buy my tickets, walk over to the Wawa to grab a cup of coffee. I'm sporting a new large tote bag that unfortunately has a very slippery shoulder strap. The bag slips off my shoulder into the bend of the elbow of the arm that clutches the coffee cup. (before you ask, I was opening the door with the other hand) The coffee flies up and splashes all over my outfit.
I only see my colleagues twice a month. Lots of the staff is new and I've yet to meet them. This sucks...coffee ALL OVER my clothes...figures, the one day I decide NOT to wear black I splash coffee on myself. Damned thing...I didn't even get a sip. Luckily I poured in a lot of skim milk so it wasn't scalding hot. I threw the rest out.
I board the train. No seats available. I plant myself between cars with a Paris Hilton look-alike, her assistant, and a middle-eastern business man.
The conductor comes to collect our tickets and the MEBM tells him he doesn't have his ticket and needs to buy one. "$12.50" the conductor asks. The man opens his wallet and starts fumbling around. He pulls out a BRAND NEW NJ Transit Monthly train ticket...he tells the conductor, "I need a new ticket for June" The conductor and I exchanged glances. "Its still May, isn't it?" the conductor asks. "No, its June" says MEBM. I chime in, "Its MAY. MAY 9th!" What the heck is up with this scenario?
"Oh it is?" says MEBM. WTF. WTF!!!! I'm thinking.
Okay, is this guy so disoriented that he forgot what month it is? Crap. He's probably going to blow up this train. He starts making all sorts of excuses to me why he didn't have his ticket handy. "In other countries, I keep my train tickets RIGHT HERE" he points to the credit card slots in his wallet. I'm not sure why he is telling me this...but I just give him an "uh huuhhh" and continue to check out Paris Hilton. I'm wondering if this girl is one of those Look-Alikes that go to 'openings'.
She is actually more attractive than Paris herself. Her eyes have an intelligence to them. Anyway, the ride goes on...Paris and her assistant are checking out how messed up I look with coffee spilled all over my light teal outfit with incredulous faces. Oh the humanity. Its bad enough I'm wearing Mandals.
We finally get to Penn Station after delays in the Tunnel. Oh GAWD. Here we go, I'm almost positive MEBM is poised and ready to pull the rip-cord or whatever it is that ignites his own personal body bomb. Luckily, he leaves before me and all is well.
So down into the bowels of Manhattan. I board an E train, but I am told there is a problem in the tunnel and I exit the train. I ask a transit worker on the platform what's going on...she said to me, "I can hear those annoucements just as well as you can." Thanks...our tax dollars at work. UGH. For some reason, a V train pulls up to the platform. Why? I don't know. I asked if he was stopping at W4 and he says yes.
Okay, cool. I board. I need to grab a BDFV anyway. We sit. We sit. We sit.
Finally we move to 14th St. We're told to disembark and take the next C train.
We all leave the V. We board the C. We start to move...then come to a halt somewhere under gotham. There is a train a head of us thats stuck inside the tunnel. WONDERFUL!!
We watch the V train roll passed.
I have to finish this later, its getting too depressing.
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3 comments:
Wow. Sounds like you were on the edge from the get go. Did you bring a book and your music? Maybe next time take some herbal tea in a carafe.
I do that spilled coffee thing a couple of times a week. First stop in the morning is the bathroom to try to fix the damage. None of my clothes make it through a day without some kind of accidental smearing. Sorry about that Ang. It's like my dipped shoes...pickin up grass. Need a break.
I forgot my ipod and forgot reading material.
I'm just plain not used to commuting anymore. Out of the New York groove.
Talk about the morning from hell! I hate days that start out with everything going wrong before you've even had a chance to get into the groove. And I firmly believe that light-colored clothes have a magnetic property that attracts food and drink. I never spill lunch or iced tea when I'm wearing dark colors. But it's over 100 each day here in the summer, so there's a point where you have to take risks. I hope the rest of your day worked out a little better??
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