#commuter problems

It started off as a regular morning -- well, a regular morning after a four-day weekend.  Your typical grogginess, difficulty waking up to an alarm, general irritation.  

All normal.

I left my apartment on time and not rushing for once (give me credit for this) and saw a text from my mother around 7:50am.

“Is your train on time?”

(I believe they call this foreshadowing)

I get ready with the news on every morning and didn’t hear anything about LIRR delays, so I wondered why she was asking that.  I also wasn’t at the train yet since I take the 8:03 every morning so I didn’t know.  But I thought nothing of it.

I got on my train and quickly heard that they were experiencing some delays (WHAT ELSE IS NEW) and would be making local stops.  Eh, I can live with that.  That’s all fine.

But then, all hell broke loose.  Instead of just telling you what happened in my own words, I can also show you in series of photos.  Alternative title to this post:  ALLISON HAS A MENTAL BREAKDOWN.

BUCKLE UP.

First, the alerts.   The Long Island Railroad isn’t great at saying, “hey, there are going to be delays later; you might want to plan accordingly!” but they ARE great at saying, “uh, yeah, there are delays now.  but you probably know that already.”

It wasn’t awful, though.  Sure, I was late, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I figured all the extra stops were causing the 20 minute delay (which I can live with!  I’m easygoing and patient!  Very go with the flow!) 

But then... we stopped.  There was no more movement.  I looked at my calendar to see what meetings I had today at work, and the first call was at 10:30.  Phew, I’ll probably make that, right?

(Foreshadowing again)

I email my team and tell them I’m going to be late and decided to just try and be patient (something I suck at), throw on some music and deal.  I also felt like I should document the delay because I’m an over-sharer and have this weird thing where I think people care about what I’m experiencing:

I now started to get antsy.  My butt hurt from sitting for so long.  People were starting to lose their patience and tempers.  I felt bad for those who were stuck standing in the aisles, but also was secretly glad it wasn’t me.  I felt the train walls closing in on me and suddenly felt... panicky.  The man next to me -- who at this point hadn’t said a peep -- decided to call every single person in his phone’s address book.  LUCKY ME.

I look at my phone battery: 38%.  I should probably not use my iPhone anymore, but what am I supposed to do during this stressful situation?!  I HAVE TO CONTINUE TWEETING HATEFUL THINGS AT THE LONG ISLAND RAILROAD TWITTER HANDLE!

topical.

 not the most mature, but... *shrugs*

I *also* needed to keep concerned friends and family posted on my whereabouts:

of course I gotta keep Sue in the loop.

It’s now 10:30.  I’m hot, I’m full of rage.  I’m annoyed.

I’m late for my client call.

I think about all the times the trains have been messed up in 2017 and I get annoyed.  I THEN remember that I pay $300 a month for this godforsaken piss-poor service, and I start to see red.  Breeeeeeeeeeathe, Allison, just breathe.

I hear the conductor make an announcement on the loudspeaker, so I take my headphone out to hear it.  Only, I can’t hear it, no one can -- the volume is too low and his voice is muffled.  THE SPEAKERS DON’T WORK; WHY WOULD THEY???!  People on my train laugh;  the kind of laugh that happens when you’ve lost your mind.  Because we have.

Now, the worst happens... I lose cell phone service.  No more Instagram stories, tweets and texts.  This is it, I think, this is my home now.  I live here.  I’m never getting out.

11:00 am.

Just as I begin to accept my fate that I somehow died and am now living my personal hell, we pull into Penn Station.  Three hours of commuting.  Two hours longer than normal.  I stand up and just see a bunch of faces: disgruntled, defeated.  We’ve been through battle together.  And now our (work) days were only just beginning.

I made it into work at 11:20ish; a bruised and battered commuter, and as soon as I turned the corner into my desk area, I saw about ten concerned faces look up at me.  I make a VERY SERIOUS announcement.  

“I need ten minutes before I can talk to anyone.”

And whatddya know, they listened.  

So, not the greatest start to my day, but I survived.  And to those who followed along on my little nightmare journey this morning, you’re the real MVPs.  That couldn’t have been easy to witness.

Are you a commuter?

बस्ती शहर के मूडघाट अंडरपास की पटरियों पर कूड़े का अंबार लगा है। इसके साथ ही, अंडरपास के दोनों ओर अतिक्रमण भी बढ़ गया है, जिससे स्थानीय नागरिकों और राहगीरों को भारी परेशानी का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। यह समस्या लंबे समय से बनी हुई है। स्थानीय निवासियों किसन, रामपूजन, विशाल और शंभू ने इस गंभीर समस्या पर संबंधित अधिकारियों का ध्यान आकर्षित किया है। उन्होंने बताया कि अंडरपास के दोनों ओर पटरियों पर…

बस्ती शहर के मूडघाट अंडरपास की पटरियों पर कूड़े का अंबार लगा है। इसके साथ ही, अंडरपास के दोनों ओर अतिक्रमण भी बढ़ गया है, जिससे स्थानीय नागरिकों और राहगीरों को भारी परेशानी का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। यह समस्या लंबे समय से बनी हुई है। स्थानीय निवासियों किसन, रामपूजन, विशाल और शंभू ने इस गंभीर समस्या पर संबंधित अधिकारियों का ध्यान आकर्षित किया है। उन्होंने बताया कि अंडरपास के दोनों ओर पटरियों पर…