DCs Metro

I am not sure if this is really worth a blog update, but I find it entertaining and frustrating so I thought I would share it with all who read this blog.

Last night I went out with some friends from church. We had dinner after the evening service and started making our way back to our respective homes and cars around 10:30pm. We were eating near the Orange Line, but I live off of the Red Line. It's not too hard to transfer and it is actually what I do every day during my work commute. In the evenings however, the metro trains are few and far between. So, instead of getting on the orange and transferring, one of the guys we ate with offered to drive me to a stop along the red line.

I made my way down into the underground metro stop around 10:45 that night and boarded the train almost immediately. The train was running slightly delayed for a few stops. Instead of boarding and unboarding in a timely manner we would sit at each stop for a few minutes. But, I had my music and I wasn't in too much of a hurry. I did however have to pee fairly urgently.

Then, 1 stop away from where I get off, the train stopped. The announcer said, "We will be leaving momentarily." That was it. We continued to sit. The announcer got back on the speaker and repeated what he said the first time... in fact he continued to repeat it in 5 minute intervals for a good half hour. If he had just said, "We will be here a crazy long amount of time, buckle down and get used to it" then I would have got off the metro, found a bathroom and walked home. Instead I stayed on, thinking "we will be leaving momentarily." When we did finally start to move again, everyone cheered. It was exciting. It was preemptive. We stopped yet again, this time in the middle of nowhere between the previous stop and the next one which was mine. We continued to sit here for yet another 45 minutes all the time being assured "we will be leaving momentarily." By the time we did finally start to inch forward and saw the exit approaching I was scared my bladder was going to burst. It was horrible. I got off of the train and tried to hurry as fast as my bladder allowed. The bus that I usually take once I get off of the metro wasn't swinging by our way for another 45 minutes so I elected to walk home. It was a brutal grueling trudge the 6 blocks I live away from the metro stop. No restaurants were open and there aren't really any bushes I could hide behind...

So, a hour an half after leaving dinner (usually a 20 minute commute) I arrived at my house. Exhausted and very upset it was a Sunday night.

I must add simply because I am on the subject that the Metro in DC doesn't even hold a candle to the Tokyo and Seoul metros. Although I have never been to NYC, I am sure that their metro also blows ours out of the water. Someone recently mentioned to me they think the DC Metro runs more effectively in the cold weather and seems to break down more in the heat... could be. Who knows? It's jerky as all get up, is always delayed and isn't designed to efficiently hold the most amount of people possible.

So, from Samoan buses and sitting on laps to the inner workings of the DC Metro, I hope this post finds you all well. Until next time...