Running for the train

Everyday I commute from Washington Union Station to Halethorpe, MD on the MARC commuter rail. I will typically catch the 5:20pm express on the Penn line but this particular day I was running late so I was resigned to take the 5:34pm local.

When I got to the station platforms the 5:20 train was still there so I started heading for it and I heard the conductor said, "All aboard!" I'm not really the running type so I was just going to go catch the later train but as I was about to change my mind the conductor saw me and said "Come on!" and waved his arm beckoning me to make the train.

So I put on a little bit of speed and ran to the end of the first car where the conductor was now standing in the doorway. Right as I was getting there the train began to pull away from the platform. The conductor said, "careful now" and stepped aside to allow me to jump onto the moving train.

I was a little bit out of breath from the sprint but I was pretty excited about what had just occurred. I had just jumped onto a moving train as it pulled away from the station. When in my life will I ever get the chance to jump on a moving train again?

The good trains

It's been two weeks since I left New York and so far I don't miss it. It always takes a while to get used to a new area and how things are done but one thing is very much the same, the trains.

Riding the train to Washington, DC is not the same as riding the train into Manhattan. For example, the conductors are never quite sure whether or not they've checked your ticket. The trains are newer and double-decker since there aren't any tunnels to go through and that means more comfortable seats with more room. So people aren't so crammed on the trains as in New York.

There is a "Quiet car" on each train where people aren't allowed to use their cell phones or talk loudly, the down side is that they don't make announcements either, so be sure you're on the correct train before you sit in the quiet car.

The station where I get on the train near my apartment doesn't have a platform so the conductors only open the doors in two places and get out with stools to allow the riders to climb up inside. There really isn't a line so people just sort of push together without touching each other. Amongst this the riders are still more courteous than New Yorkers.

When the train gets to Union Station the riders begin to line up back from the door the same as in New York only in New York all those people lining up will get off the train before you if you don't shove into the line before it starts moving. In Washington the riders in the line wait like in an airplane for those in the seats ahead of them to get out. It's nice but slows down the process if you're in a hurry. The best advice is to get in line and move as close to the door as you can and past as many rows of seats as you can.

But getting off the train quickly won't help you out unless you are in the front car. Everyone walks really slow down the platform, I can't even take a full step. Then they all squish through a couple of doors into the station and then down a single escalator to get to the Metro trains. The best thing to do is probably just sit on the train for a minute and let it all clear up.

However you do it, no matter what, it still feels more laid back then the commute to Manhattan. It makes things feel less stressful when you can leisurely commute, it adds a little bit to your day and takes a little less from your soul.

Dogs on the train

Every now and again you will see someone bringing a dog onto the train. Animals are generally not allowed to ride the rails but some people don’t care where they take their dogs. I’ve even seen them at the grocery store riding in the same carts where I put my produce, gives new meaning to washing your vegetables before eating them. Only occasionally do you see someone who actually has a legitimate reason to bring their dog on the train. Tonight it was a gray haired blind man.

The dog sniffed around and took him to a nearly empty seat. The dog immediately ducked under the seat and lay down next to his master’s feet. The blind man felt around and made his way into the seat. The woman across from him looked only slightly concerned that the dog had pushed passed her to lay down. But even a sleeping dog at a man’s feet was not enough to stop an overweight Italian man from attempting to get into the only other seat on the 4-seater, the man practically stepping on the poor animal’s head as he squeezed into a seat that only a child should sit.

Twenty minutes into the ride and the yellow lab guide dog is calmly sniffing the floor of the train to see if there is anything worth licking up, hoping that his master will drop one of the Fritos he’s eating. He gives up on his dream and lays his head back down patiently waiting until it’s time to get up and help his master off the train.

At the Peekskill station the dog sits there as all the people walk by. An Asian man actually stops and bends down to touch the dog, something that the dog obviously didn't expect and jerked his head backwards as if to say, "hey, what the heck!"

I couldn't help but want to take a picture of the good 'ole dog. What can I say, I'm a sucker for little girls and labs.

Mobile disease incubators

With cold and flu season at it's peak it's only natural that I would take the time to complain about those people who for the sake of saying "I HAVE to be at work" will get on public transportation and spread the "love."

It usually takes a lot for me to get sick but if I do I can usually get over it in a couple of days without too much discomfort. A year ago I was sitting on the train in a 4-seater with two people facing me and one right next to me. The guy across from me starts hacking right in my direction and there was nothing I could do about it. Sure enough about 2 days later I was down with a 102 degree fever. I was out for 3 days before I managed to make it in to the office confident that I wasn't contagious anymore.

So here I am again, a year later and now I have a 7 week old baby at home to consider. There is no way I'm going to bring some nasty flu home this year. So on the train this morning, the man in the row in front of me keeps hacking, this time I get up and move. I hope he noticed.

There is something called "the strap" that people use in the subway. It is a piece of leather that goes over the handrail in the train so they don't have to touch it to hold on. Maybe if it gets really bad I can start carrying SARS masks and hand them out to the coughing people.

Sick days are not just for you, they are for the courtesy of the people around you. Don't go to work and spread your cold to everyone you come into contact with along the way.

Riding the train ... again

When you work in Manhattan there are only so many options of how to get to work. You could drive, but with gas rising to $4.35 a gallon and then tolls and parking you don't get much of a cost benefit to drive alone. Public transportation is the way to go. So you find yourself getting that ticket and standing on the platform waiting for the silver bullet to come around the bend.

Every morning you end up waiting with those same people you see everyday. There's the quirky guy with a goatee who is always in shorts with sneakers and black socks and likes to hold his coffee and do lunges. Then there's the 60-year-old businessman whose hair blows straight up in the air when a train comes by. Some sit and read the paper, others smoke, and sometimes they talk to each other.

You strategically place yourself in that prime position to get your favorite seat in your favorite car. I prefer the last car on the way into the city because it puts me close to stairs in Grand Central. So I walk to the end of the platform and stand right on the stenciled words "Watch the gap" where the doors usually stop. When the train pulls up you shuffle up to the door that stopped further away then you thought but someone else got to it first and you stand there waiting to see if the doors will open before people start shoving.

The doors open and you go in and see if your prime seat is empty. It is and you sit down and get out your laptop, bottle of water and headphones because if you don't someone will inevitably talk to you. At first you're alone, nobody likes to sit together if they can avoid it. Slowly people add to your row and by the time the train is halfway to Manhattan your knees are being bumped and you are being elbowed. Luckily the train is now express and won't be picking up anyone else. Somewhere along the line the conductor comes around and looks at your ticket.

Once the train gets to Grand Central people are already lining up to get out. The doors open and it's hot in Grand Central... at least 95 degrees in the summer time, and you breathe in diesel exhaust from the older trains.

You shove your way out of the car and cue up at the stairs to get out. Once you're down the stairs it's a free for all, people practically race each other on the way up to the street. Why? Not really sure. But one thing is sure, it happens every day.

You make your way to work, stay your 8 hours (or 6 if you're like me and work both ways on the train) and then once you're finished you get to start the trek home.

On the way home it's more exciting. The people are stressed out from their hard day making money, suing people, collecting excessive fees, you name it. They have drink carts outside the platforms so the businessmen are now bringing tallboys onto the train. This sometimes leads to problems on the train.

Example: A guy is standing and the conductor comes by asking for tickets. He says he doesn't have one and the conductor says "ok, $14." The guys says "wait" and fumbles for an id and shows that he is disabled so the conductor says, "Ok, $6." The guy says "I don't have any money" and the conductor asks for his ID to write him a ticket. So the guy who is disabled and a little drunk starts making a scene. "Why are you hassling me? I'm disabled because of Metro-North and a judge made them pay me $25,000!!" He goes on and on and people on the train start yelling at him to shut up and he won't. All he says is, "how dare you say I have no money, I have a $300,000 condo!! How dare you!!" Eventually the MTA Police pick him up at a station and arrest him.

So the evening commute is more fun and more crowded. I sit in one of two places on the train and see a lot of the same people. For some reason, at my stop there happen to be a lot of impatient people. They start lining up at the door two stops before and stand in the way to make sure that they will be the first one off. Then once the doors open they race each other up the stairs. Why? They are wealthy and self-important and feel like if they don't get up the stairs and to their car first they will have to wait for the others before they can leave.

So the trek into the city and home is over. Now you can relax but one thing is for certain tomorrow it starts all over again. Such is the life of a commuter on the Metro-North Railroad.