Reasons we should appreciate the subway
Dec. 1st, 2005 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taylweaverWell, really more like reasons to be frustrated on the rare day when the subway is majorly messed up.
Okay, only two lines. But the ones I needed to get to school.
I left my apartment at 7 AM. I got to work at 9:25. That was an hour and fifteen minutes late. My commute literally took twice as long as usual. Or rather, the last ten minutes of my commute took over an hour.
I guess that's the subway equivalent of getting stuck behind a major accident on the highway.
Actually, it was a track fire. That was what the conductor told us on the train. That there was a track fire at Newkirk Ave. At the time, we were at Prospect Park. And then we sat for a while. And the guy in the subway station kept announcing in a rather loud and frustrated tone that no trains were running to Manhattan (where most people were trying to get - I have a reverse commute) - and that people needed to go to the other end of the station to get a free bus transfer. And there was also a softer, more recorded-sounding announcement that no trains were running in either direction due to "debris on the track."
Note how they did not say "flaming debris on the track" - a far more accurate description. Thankfully, our conductor told us this, so it was not too much of a surprise when, after 10-15 minutes of sitting on the train and hoping it was a minor fire, the conductor announced that the train we were on was being taken out of service and that we should all get off.
That was when my bus map came in handy.
That was also when I got cell phone reception.
Prospect Park is the station where the B/Q comes comes above ground, and most of the station is aboveground - with reception, but, of course, the car I was in was at the very back of the train, so I needed to get out before I could call my school, just as the school day was starting, to let them know that I had no idea when I'd be arriving. Thankfully, the school where I work has many, many students who ride the subway, and also other teachers who do, so I was far from the only one who was arriving late. They were well aware of the problem.
Anyway, out came the bus map, and while it did come in handy, it also offered some disappointing news - because there is a subway line from Prospect Park to where I needed to go, there is absolutely no way to get there without switching busses.
And then, even with the bus map, I didn't know the area and probably walked at least ten minutes out of my way before I found the bus stop and boarded a very crowded, very slow bus. While on the bus, I got a seat, then gave it up to a little girl who was asking for one. Unfortunately, that put her next to the strange guy sitting in the adjacent seat, and she kept looking at him, so I ended up drawing her attention away from him by asking her about her Pringles.
But I digress.
I then proceeded to switch busses, but because I did not know the area, walked out of my way again - only a minute or two this time - but that was enough to just miss the bus. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day, and that bus comes often.
Still, the last ten minutes of my commute took over an hour.
And, of course, by the time I got to school, the trains were running again. I would have arrived earlier if I'd waited for the train to start running again. But I couldn't do that, because what if I had waited an hour only to discover the trains still were not running?
Of course, even when I left school this afternoon, the trains were not back to normal - the B train had joined the Q on the local track for a stretch. Because I end my day at Newkirk Ave., where the problem was, I got to see why. When reached the subway around 3, there were a bunch of men on the express tracks, still working on repairing all the damage, including the damage to the third rail - or at least to stuff around it. I think the fire even damaged the station a bit - there was a support column that looks like it used to have more paint, and an overhang that was a bit more crumpled than it should be.
I wonder if it made things better or worse that Newkirk Ave. is an outdoor station.
Anyway, so that is my subway story for the day.
And yes, had I left my apartment ten minutes earlier, I might have made it to school on time - but that is just coincidence. I am fairly certain the Q train before mine got through before everything shut down.
(for that matter, had I been running late and missed my train, I would have been stopped somewhere higher up on the Q route, possibly with better bus prospects. Oh well.)
And yes, it is true that I should try to leave earlier to allow time for delays - but this is not the sort of delay I can leave time for.
Anyway, so it was a weird start to the day.
Okay, only two lines. But the ones I needed to get to school.
I left my apartment at 7 AM. I got to work at 9:25. That was an hour and fifteen minutes late. My commute literally took twice as long as usual. Or rather, the last ten minutes of my commute took over an hour.
I guess that's the subway equivalent of getting stuck behind a major accident on the highway.
Actually, it was a track fire. That was what the conductor told us on the train. That there was a track fire at Newkirk Ave. At the time, we were at Prospect Park. And then we sat for a while. And the guy in the subway station kept announcing in a rather loud and frustrated tone that no trains were running to Manhattan (where most people were trying to get - I have a reverse commute) - and that people needed to go to the other end of the station to get a free bus transfer. And there was also a softer, more recorded-sounding announcement that no trains were running in either direction due to "debris on the track."
Note how they did not say "flaming debris on the track" - a far more accurate description. Thankfully, our conductor told us this, so it was not too much of a surprise when, after 10-15 minutes of sitting on the train and hoping it was a minor fire, the conductor announced that the train we were on was being taken out of service and that we should all get off.
That was when my bus map came in handy.
That was also when I got cell phone reception.
Prospect Park is the station where the B/Q comes comes above ground, and most of the station is aboveground - with reception, but, of course, the car I was in was at the very back of the train, so I needed to get out before I could call my school, just as the school day was starting, to let them know that I had no idea when I'd be arriving. Thankfully, the school where I work has many, many students who ride the subway, and also other teachers who do, so I was far from the only one who was arriving late. They were well aware of the problem.
Anyway, out came the bus map, and while it did come in handy, it also offered some disappointing news - because there is a subway line from Prospect Park to where I needed to go, there is absolutely no way to get there without switching busses.
And then, even with the bus map, I didn't know the area and probably walked at least ten minutes out of my way before I found the bus stop and boarded a very crowded, very slow bus. While on the bus, I got a seat, then gave it up to a little girl who was asking for one. Unfortunately, that put her next to the strange guy sitting in the adjacent seat, and she kept looking at him, so I ended up drawing her attention away from him by asking her about her Pringles.
But I digress.
I then proceeded to switch busses, but because I did not know the area, walked out of my way again - only a minute or two this time - but that was enough to just miss the bus. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day, and that bus comes often.
Still, the last ten minutes of my commute took over an hour.
And, of course, by the time I got to school, the trains were running again. I would have arrived earlier if I'd waited for the train to start running again. But I couldn't do that, because what if I had waited an hour only to discover the trains still were not running?
Of course, even when I left school this afternoon, the trains were not back to normal - the B train had joined the Q on the local track for a stretch. Because I end my day at Newkirk Ave., where the problem was, I got to see why. When reached the subway around 3, there were a bunch of men on the express tracks, still working on repairing all the damage, including the damage to the third rail - or at least to stuff around it. I think the fire even damaged the station a bit - there was a support column that looks like it used to have more paint, and an overhang that was a bit more crumpled than it should be.
I wonder if it made things better or worse that Newkirk Ave. is an outdoor station.
Anyway, so that is my subway story for the day.
And yes, had I left my apartment ten minutes earlier, I might have made it to school on time - but that is just coincidence. I am fairly certain the Q train before mine got through before everything shut down.
(for that matter, had I been running late and missed my train, I would have been stopped somewhere higher up on the Q route, possibly with better bus prospects. Oh well.)
And yes, it is true that I should try to leave earlier to allow time for delays - but this is not the sort of delay I can leave time for.
Anyway, so it was a weird start to the day.
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-06 02:11 am (UTC)Awesome! Though it must have been annoying....
On a more depressing note: Once, I was waiting for a subway-train, and the train stopped a few feet before entering the station. Why? Because a man was lying on the tracks, trying to commit suicide. That was seriously disturbing....