It took me almost 5 hours to get to work today...
I was running late this morning and 895 was stalled so I took 95 but didn't think I'd make the train. I did, by about 30 seconds, but I wish I hadn't. About 4 minutes after I got on the train, the lights went out and we stopped. Somewhere between BWI and Odenton. And we stayed there for two and a half hours. Eventually they told us that the power lines that ran the train were out. I never knew our trains were electric! Later still the conductor said "I heard a rumor that this stretches up to NYC... that's not confirmed yet, just what I'm hearing from the dispatcher."
I watched rabbits running outside near the tracks... happy rabbits.. literally hopping down the bunny trail. Somebody joked that we should harness the rabbits and have them pull us to the next station. After about an hour, people started asking if anybody had any food. I was glad I'd remembered a granola bar, but I wasn't sharing. The bathroom was getting visited a bit too often... I was glad I wasn't sitting close to it. The air conditioning was off and it was muggy. My head began to ache from caffeine withdrawal... wish I'd made some coffee this morning at home. Matt called to confirm that it was Amtrak's fault and it ran all the way to NYC. Some woman was freaking out about missing a meeting and another woman came close to invoking Jesus trying to calm her down... "Honey, there ain't nothing you can do about this... just sit tight and calm down! It's out of your hands, honey. You have to accept it." Amen.
I called my boss and she said "why don't you just turn around? I said, "I can't! I'm stuck!"
Eventually a diesel engine train showed up and they debated whether or not we should offload. We sat there, staring at the other train, for about half an hour before they decided they really weren't going to be able to get the power on, and that we should, in fact, get on the other train. So we climbed down off the train, which was a feat in itself. They told us not to touch the train as we would get shocked. Only when they said it over the intercom it sounded more like "SHOT" so a few passengers were wondering why the conductors would shoot us after all the time we'd spent together. Getting onto the new train was about a 2 foot jump... I was able to lift myself up, just pretended it was a boat and I'd been snorkeling, but a lot of women had trouble... especially in skirts and heels. There was a lot of grumbling about that.
We sat on the new train for about half an hour before it started moving. SLOWLY. I could have gotten off at Odenton and caught a cab to BWI to get my car. I debated it. But I figured the worst was over so I'd just tough it out... by that I mean I fell asleep. My head was really pounding. When I woke up at New Carrolton they told us it was going to be another hour to get to Union Station so we should probably get off here and catch the metro. We did. The whole train. We all got off and swarmed the metro. The news was there filming it. So now, at the END of the orange line, I was still 45 minutes from my office. Pretty much everybody had the same look on their face... relief mixed with exhaustion mixed with a bit of anger. Somebody suggested it was terrorism, but I don't think it was.
When I finally made it to Farragut North I hit the Starbucks to quench my caffeine withdrawal and they were training a new cashier who could NOT get my drink order right... fortunately the barista heard me repeat it 6 times and SHE got it right. I was this close to snapping. I walked in the door of my office at a few minutes after noon and the co-workers I saw said "why did you come to work today? Didn't you know about it beforehand?" I said "I WAS ON THE TRAIN WHEN IT HAPPENED!!!" I guess they don't realize that some of us leave the house way before 8 am. I really wish I'd missed that train. If I had, I would have gone home and telecommuted. At least I get to do that tomorrow... we close at noon. Too bad that wasn't today.
Some guy from the Washington Post was on my train, #415. Read his account here.
I watched rabbits running outside near the tracks... happy rabbits.. literally hopping down the bunny trail. Somebody joked that we should harness the rabbits and have them pull us to the next station. After about an hour, people started asking if anybody had any food. I was glad I'd remembered a granola bar, but I wasn't sharing. The bathroom was getting visited a bit too often... I was glad I wasn't sitting close to it. The air conditioning was off and it was muggy. My head began to ache from caffeine withdrawal... wish I'd made some coffee this morning at home. Matt called to confirm that it was Amtrak's fault and it ran all the way to NYC. Some woman was freaking out about missing a meeting and another woman came close to invoking Jesus trying to calm her down... "Honey, there ain't nothing you can do about this... just sit tight and calm down! It's out of your hands, honey. You have to accept it." Amen.
I called my boss and she said "why don't you just turn around? I said, "I can't! I'm stuck!"
Eventually a diesel engine train showed up and they debated whether or not we should offload. We sat there, staring at the other train, for about half an hour before they decided they really weren't going to be able to get the power on, and that we should, in fact, get on the other train. So we climbed down off the train, which was a feat in itself. They told us not to touch the train as we would get shocked. Only when they said it over the intercom it sounded more like "SHOT" so a few passengers were wondering why the conductors would shoot us after all the time we'd spent together. Getting onto the new train was about a 2 foot jump... I was able to lift myself up, just pretended it was a boat and I'd been snorkeling, but a lot of women had trouble... especially in skirts and heels. There was a lot of grumbling about that.
We sat on the new train for about half an hour before it started moving. SLOWLY. I could have gotten off at Odenton and caught a cab to BWI to get my car. I debated it. But I figured the worst was over so I'd just tough it out... by that I mean I fell asleep. My head was really pounding. When I woke up at New Carrolton they told us it was going to be another hour to get to Union Station so we should probably get off here and catch the metro. We did. The whole train. We all got off and swarmed the metro. The news was there filming it. So now, at the END of the orange line, I was still 45 minutes from my office. Pretty much everybody had the same look on their face... relief mixed with exhaustion mixed with a bit of anger. Somebody suggested it was terrorism, but I don't think it was.
When I finally made it to Farragut North I hit the Starbucks to quench my caffeine withdrawal and they were training a new cashier who could NOT get my drink order right... fortunately the barista heard me repeat it 6 times and SHE got it right. I was this close to snapping. I walked in the door of my office at a few minutes after noon and the co-workers I saw said "why did you come to work today? Didn't you know about it beforehand?" I said "I WAS ON THE TRAIN WHEN IT HAPPENED!!!" I guess they don't realize that some of us leave the house way before 8 am. I really wish I'd missed that train. If I had, I would have gone home and telecommuted. At least I get to do that tomorrow... we close at noon. Too bad that wasn't today.
Some guy from the Washington Post was on my train, #415. Read his account here.