Wednesday, January 23, 2008

What went right today?

So many things went wrong today. But to be fair, the one thing that went right during my BART ride today is in fact the most important. The train was only 5 minutes late so I was able to make it on my shuttle.

Now...let's talk about the wrong. Wow, where can I start. It began with a clueless driver who continued to back up his car despite my car being right in back of him. I first backed up a bit out of courtesy, then he kept on going, so I went to my horns. I honked and honked...I really think he's deaf or had his radio blasting. I had no choice but to back up more. I had planned to say something to him in case I passed him while walking but he just remained seated in his car. What a freak.

Then, in the train. I took up one of those backboards near the train doors. The trains were packed. When we got to MacArthur, I realized that I was blocking the doors so I stepped out to make room for people entering and exiting. I made eye contact with most of the people walking into the train. Then, as I walked back in to re-claim my space, some woman decided to stand in my spot along with her multiple bags that I vacated only to let her and others in. She saw me standing outside of the door while people walked in but she obviously doesn't care....I left therefore I lose...no matter what reason, right??? I was not about to let her do that so I said, "Excuse me, I was standing here before the doors opened." I know she heard me but she said, "What?" I was not in a spiffy mood so I raise my voice a bit, "I was here, then I slid over so I wasn't blocking the entrance," gesturing here and there with my hands. "Oh you want to stand here?" she said. "I WAS here!" I said and stood in the small space that remained. She didn't leave but neither was I. I stayed standing like that most of the ride until she left at Embarcadero.

Then finally, I get to Civic Center. A family of 6 (mom, dad, and 4 kids) cover all the turnstiles because they can't figure out how to get out. The kids don't have tickets. The mom doesn't have enough on her ticket. So they hover around the turnstiles, blocking anyone from putting a ticket in. I had 30 seconds to make it up the stairs, run across the street to catch my shuttle. I squeezed through them, stick my ticket in and walk through the turnstile. The mom and 2 of the kids followed me through. I gave them a dirty look and shook my head. I had no time to report them so I said, "Pay for a ticket next time." The 2 remaining kids were still stuck but they just crawled under the turnstiles. I dashed for the shuttle....but I think another passenger was telling them off as I started running.

Is it over? No! As I was running towards street-level, I stepped into a wet puddle of what used to be a old donut. I just washed it off in the bathroom as I got to work.

What a ride!! Now, can I win the lottery to balance out my day??

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds horrible. The worst thing I had to deal with on bart today was walking past the Jehovah's witnesses at the lake Merritt station. I hate when they are there.

Anonymous said...

you're lucky that the "old donut" was not something else. something hot and steamy and all too common on the streets of san francisco.

Anonymous said...

I walk from BART to work, so there is no shuttle to miss. (Rainy days are another story, but on general principles, walking is good for you.) I also tend to stand on the train without touching anything, so as to not pick up germs. ("BART surfing.") You could say I make a virtue of my paranoias, but hey, it works for me. I get a lot of flexibility and fewer annoyances in the bargain.