Last night there was a storm that rolled through D.C. and B-more. It knocked out the signals along the train tracks. It resulted in a 3 hour train ride home, during which I really had to pee but was reluctant to give up my seat so I just held it and squirmed. As we neared the 2 hour mark of sitting with strangers in a tin can my Nook's battery light started blinking. No! I screamed silently to myself. For what would I do without entertainment? Stare out the window and get increasingly angry, most likely. Not that I wasn't already angry. Especially when the conductor kept getting on the intercom to ask us to "please be patient." I'm being patient now stop asking me to because every time you do Iwanttopunchyouintheface. I finally made it home around 8 p.m., giving me just enough time to eat, shower, and go to bed so I could get up and do it all over again this morning.
Then this morning, there were still train problems, resulting in a 3 hour commute back in to work, and leaving me with 2 hours to make up out of my own time. At one point the conductor actually announced that the engineers were "talking about moving the train." Id've laughed if I didn't feel like cryin'. Once I got to D.C. the Metro was all effed up, but I did finally make it to work.
Now, I try to keep my perspective about these things. It wasn't anyone's fault we got stuck, and the conductors were doing all they could to get us home (after all, they had to get home too). And having a commute means I have a job right? Right.
That's part of the problem. See, there's no one to be angry at. I'm stuck on a train with hundreds of other strangers who work in D.C. and thus usually think that they are more important than everyone else and have to get home/to work on time, as if the rest of us don't, and...I just have to shut up and take it. I'm at the mercy of the train once I step aboard, and there's nothing I can do about it. And while I tell myself that there are many, many reasons why this isn't a big deal (it means I have a job, I live in one of the most prosperous nations in the world, I have the privilege to take a comfortable train to work, etc.), the moral of the story is: I'm still pissed off. And I wish there was someone to whom I could direct my anger so I could just punch them in the face and feel better.
End rant.
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