back to work it is

I've been on vacation in Spain the past 11 days, so it's really been nice to get a little break from BART and the daily grind. We took BART from SFO back to Lafayette last night, and it was surprisingly smooth. We had seats, the connection to our train was seamless, and it proved to be much better than driving back from a long trip. My opinion of BART rose a bit, and I was ready to start the new year with a good attitude about my commute.

Today started out a bit rough. I was running a little late, so I ran with heels from the parking lot to the station. As I got closer to the ticketing machine, I looked at my watch....I had one minute to get on the train. I thought I was home free until I looked up and saw over 50 high school students blocking the ticket entryway as they slowly made their way through. I was so irritated, as were all the other daily commuters. Commuters know to have their ticket ready, push through the ticket and walk through swiftly. These kids were socializing, laughing, didn't have the right amount on their ticket, tried to sneak food in...etc. Needless to say, I didn't make it to the train in time...it took them about 2-3 minutes to get past the ticketing machine.

I took the later train, but one advantage was that I got a seat since it was less crowded. I was pleased until 2 stops later when a masculine woman stood next to me and my chair. I had a strange feeling about her from the start. She didn't hold on to the overhead pole with one hand like most people, instead, she hung her two arms over the overhead pole (she's very tall), wide apart, kind of like a gorilla. Then, I felt her heavy breath blowing down on me.....bad breath too. Bad mix of coffee, morning breath, and phlegm. I had to turn my head away from her to get some fresh air.

Just when I thought it was bad enough, she started coughing hard. Since her arms were hanging over the safety pole (like a gorilla, may I remind you,) she wasn't able to cover her mouth when she coughed (at least I'll make that excuse for her.) So, she coughed, again and again, over my head. I actually saw my hairs move due to her coughs.

It gets worse!!! Never on BART have I heard someone fart outloud. I smell farts and burps from other passengers constantly on BART, but no one had the audacity to do it aloud. Well, this woman did. She let out 2 loud farts...next to me. Try to picture this in your head....I was seated, and she was standing. Because she was tall, her butt came to about where my face was. The farts stunk....I was disgusted, so was the passenger seated next to me. I looked up at gorilla woman to see if she is embarrassed at all by this...but not at all. She seemed like this was the normal thing to do.

Very gross ride today. Not to mention, BART fares rose to $4.00 each way!!!!