Friday, November 23, 2007

braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains . . .

i am a late person. i try to be on time, really i do - i know how disrespectful it is to be constantly late, and how inconvenient, and blah blah blah, but i am BAD WITH MORNINGS and WORSE WITH DEADLINES. today, i was late for work; but for once it was not my fault.

as i walked into the subway station today, i heard a train pull away. no worries - i picked up a metro, went downstairs, and prepared to wait. a train pulled in, packed to the rafters. i didn't try to board. it left and another train came, more full than the last one. i stayed on the platform. another train came and went. and another. and they were all dangerously overloaded.

obviously something was up. every entryway was jammed with people and you couldn't see through to the other platform through the windows. the platform began to fill up with people who were, like me, waiting to catch a subway. a few held back, but some exceptionally foolish citizens attempted to rush the doors. some wiggled through, thanks more to the kindness of strangers than to their own pigheadedness.

then a train went out of service and there was pandemonium! disgruntled passengers everywhere on platform, protesting loudly! i'm not going to say that i wasn't pissed off - because that would be a lie - but quite frankly, there was no one to complain to and nothing to be done by complaining. the subway system was fubar, and none of us were going to get to work on time.

now here's where the story gets creepy. trains kept crawling in, going at the snail's pace that means there's trouble somewhere on the line. people were jammed in every possible space. the glass was fogged and hands were pressed against windows. and yet, every time the train would creak to a stop to let people disembark, the sea of humanity around me would heave and shuffle and gravitate to the doors. it was like a horror movie. people had been zapped of common sense and were launching themseves slowly but inexorably inside the subway cars. like zombies, they lurched and mumbled, intent on their dopey purpose . . . to get in and suck on brains, i guess.

i went home after an hour. i passed a paramedic vehicle on my way out. i hope they do brain transfers.

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