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January 28, 2005
Pay the Train Gods
First, there was a blizzard, which is a reasonable excuse for train delays, especially on the flood-friendly F. But that was just the beginning. For some reason the train gods are very, very mad. Maybe they read my blog about buses and are lashing out on behalf of the MTA.
Monday, I nearly kill myself on ice and slush on the stairs going down to the station. Then I notice the turnstiles are roped off. No F service. No explanation. Take the bus, signs say. But the bus is a lot smaller than a ten-car train so I end up working from home until three and eventually taking a slow R train.
Later I hear about the switch fire that will put the C train out of rotation for "3 to 5 years". MTA estimates are notoriously weird. I cut the MTA some slack and endure delays and very disturbing irregularities like G trains appearing in Manhattan and V trains appearing in Brooklyn.
Wednesday, the A train was creeping along, except this time a toddler gets on in full tantrum mode. This red-faced little kid has lungs of steel and will not quit. He screams, scrunches up his face and screams again, writhing in and out of his mother's arms. Every time you think he's done, you realize a second later that he was only gathering his breath for the next onslaught. I've been on trains with drunk people and stupid people, but this was worse because the whole thing went on for 15 minutes while the train was sitting at a station with the doors open. Not a single person wanted to give up his seat or switch cars for fear that the train would start moving again.
Next and final episode of train god revenge for an unknown but horrible crime. I do the right thing and take the B to the F today, but when I get to Broadway/Lafayette to switch, two more Bs go by and a hateful V sits in the station forever. Garbled announcements seem to suggest the F is out of service. It doesn't bother me too much those because there's this great musician playing upbeat classical music so the whole thing seems funny. I decide that he is a train god incarnate, and if I give him a dollar an F will take me home. Except someone says the V is going to Brooklyn and I forget and get on and then it stops for good one station away. I decide to take the F in the other direction back to B/L to get a B. This time, I give the musician ALL my change (only had 20s in cash). An F came. It took me home.
Posted by csageday at January 28, 2005 12:15 AM
Comments
I never even heard of the V train...must be a Brooklyn Special. The "L to Hell" was a laugh 10 years ago, there was a conductor who used to read the paper over the intercom as we headed into Manhattan.
Posted by: Tony at January 29, 2005 11:31 AM