The morning train was 10 minutes late today! By the time it arrived in Orinda, it was extremely crowded. I barely had room to stand up straight, and certainly could not comfortably grab on to a safety bar above or in front of me due to the number of arms and hands in my way.
I've been hooked on a good novel this week and stubbornly insisted on holding my book with one hand while balancing myself on my two feet alone. I really did not want to touch someone else's hands on any of the bars (yes, it was THAT crowded!)
I made it through the Caldecott tunnel without losing my balance. As we started to decrease speed as we approached Rockridge, I was so engrossed in my book that I didn't realize that I was about to become a laughing stock.
The train came to a halt and stopped at Rockridge, causing everyone to tip over backwards. Normally, I'd just grab on to maintain my footing, but today, I was holding on to nothing...except my book, and my feet were not wide apart with a strong footing, instead, they were uncomfortably positioned sideways, with no balance whatsoever.
As a result, my entire body fell over....my right foot wasn't even on the ground anymore. I was literally at a 45 degree angle and lying on other standing passengers. I looked like I was a ballet dancer, balancing on one foot and arching backwards, except, I was anything BUT graceful! My hair fell all over my face. My purse dropped to the ground. I tried to grab on to something, anything, but nothing was within my reach. I tried to grab on to passengers, but they avoided me since if I held on to them, they might just fall over too. Around me, people were laughing and smiling. Finally, this woman next to me gave me a hand and pulled me up from the awkward mid-air position.
I thanked her and looked around pretending to be un-embarrassed. People were still staring and chuckling. How annoying! Afterwards, I decided to put my book away and grab on tight to the bar above me.
Glad to be a source of entertainment for other passengers....sheez!
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