Wrong Side of the Tracks

This morning, I round the corner to find the train at the train station. It is on the side of the tracks I need. I am also running 3 minutes early to the train so I am confused. It can’t leave without me right? Don’t they have to wait until the time it’s supposed to depart? I don’t know the protocol. However, last night I gave myself 2 huge blisters by wearing new seasonably cute peep toes. So, I take my time and am ok with catching the next train that comes in fourteen minutes.

I get to the platform and no one is boarding. In fact, some people are getting off the train. The people getting off the train are not happy. Some of the guys getting off the train have beads of sweat on their foreheads and their work shirts are wet. Not a great way to start the day.

We are informed that that is the 7:10am train (it was now 7:45am). It had been stuck on the tracks and another train was coming behind to push it in the North Station. None of us get on either of the trains. There wasn’t electricity and it was a sauna. While we are waiting for those trains to leave, we hear another one off in the distance. It’s on the other side of the track and it was pulling in to the station in the direction we needed to go.

We all run (I briskly walk babying my blisters) down the stairs, under the bridge and up two flights of stairs to get to the platform, only to see it leave! It didn’t even wait. We are all disappointed and go back down two flights of stairs, under the bridge and up another flight of stairs to wait. Once we get to that side, the conductor tells us another one is coming through on the other side and to go back over there.

So, we turn around; go down a flight, under the bridge and up two flights again. As soon as we get over there, the dead train and the one pushing it, leave! Now, the other side is open for normal trains to go through so now what? What side do we wait on? If we stay over here and it comes in on the normal side where the trains just cleared out of, we miss it. If we go back to the inbound side and it does in fact come on the side the conductor said to wait on, we miss that. We have no idea where to go. Our only option was to wait under the bridge until we see which side of the trains the train was coming on.

Just as we are about to go wait under the bridge, the sign reads to stay on the outbound side. Low and behold, a few minutes later a train rolls in on the outbound side, we hop on and are finally on our merry way!

So, now that I have had my stair climber work out, I am ready to take on Tuesday!