d i n a n e . n e t 

I gingerly put my right foot down the first step. As my left foot followed, my eyes passed over the broken light bulb hanging from the ceiling. I rolled my eyes, knowing that they are in fact working on fixing this station… or they were… wait… I haven’t seen any construction workers out on the street at Arlington and Boylston for a couple weeks. What the hell?

It was at the moment I reached the first landing that I realized two things. One - I had to pee, but not so bad that I couldn’t wait until I got home. Two - I didn’t have my iPod.

Crap!

You would think, with me working just 3 buildings away from the station and up only 11 flights - by elevator that the obvious choice would be to go back up to use the bathroom and retrieve Sweet Pea (my iPod has a name, live with it). But instead, I shrugged and decided I’d rather just get home. So I trod on.

As I reached the platform, after having swiped my car in the decided easier, if old fashioned, turnstile above, a trolley headed to Lechemere was right there waiting. Of course it was jammed full of people. I can take a little bit of squishery, but I’m not willing to be completely mashed into a trolley car with that many people. I don’t need to exercise my hyperventilation muscles that often.

So I patiently waited for the next trolley, and was very lucky indeed that it was headed for North Station. Often, the longer running train is followed by one that only goes as far as Government Center, which simply isn’t good enough. I realized that everyone was waiting by the first car, so I sauntered back to the second one and even got myself a seat. Sweet!

As we chugged along, I realized just how much I missed my iPod - and my noise cancellation headset. Really it is the headset that I really missed. With that on, I don’t notice how frickin’ loud the Bombardiers are. *SCREEEEEEEEEEE* as they turn the corner at Boylston. *SCREEEEEEEEE* as they pull in to Government Center. *SCREEEEEEEEE*

But I, and my daily free crossword puzzle from the Metro, survived. At North Station (”Last stop. This train is going out of service. For service to Science Park and Lechmere , please wait on the platform for a train marked ‘Lechmere .’ Last stop.”), I got off and headed across the platform and down the stairs. I walked up to the front of the platform, because I had come in from Malden Center, and that end is closer to the exit there.

I soon noticed something very disturbing. It was silent. I don’t know what I thought North Station sounded like, but it really was about the quietest place I had heard all day. I was baffled. I tried to discern what was missing… and then it occurred to me. My music. Damn, I wish I had my iPod.

“Attention passengers: the next orange line train to Oak Grove is now arriving.”

I didn’t get a seat, but I was able to lean against the railing by the door, which was enough for me to leave only my left foot on the ground. Not long now. Twelve minutes on the train, twelve minutes on the road, and home free. I finished a quadrant of my crossword puzzle.

“Next stop, Wellington. Doors open on both sides of the train.”

I’ve heard that plenty of times. But then came the words that sent a chill down my spine:

“This train will be going out of service at Wellington. Wellington will be the last stop. Everyone must exit the train at Wellington. There is another service train right behind us” (link via Universal Hub).

We groaned. We whimpered. We pouted. We pulled out or cellphones and called our loved ones to let them know we would not be getting home. Ever. But there was nothing else we could do. We all got off the train at Wellington and stood like one giant pissed-off mass waiting for that other service train that was obviously right behind us.

Of course, even if it was there, how would it come to get us if the train we just got off of was still sitting on the platform? We all held our breaths for as long as we could take it, but it only took a couple extra minutes of waiting before we all burst into spontaneous annoyed conversation with the people next to us. I talked to one lady who had 7 minutes to catch a bus - the next one wouldn’t be for an hour. We were apeshit.

Finally, the broken train pulled out and over into the side lot. I’d like to say that right behind it was another train, but I’d be lying. We waited a good 3 or 4 more minutes for that next train. During rush hour, the orange line is supposed to run trains every 4 minutes. Right behind us. Riiiiiiiight.

And of course it was jammed full.

But we all got on it anyway. I mean, seriously, by this point, I really had to pee! I had visions of getting stuck halfway between Wellington and Malden, but they didn’t materialize. I got to my car, and drove on home. I steamed for a little while, but eventually calmed down. It could have been worse. It can always be worse.

I’m very lucky to have a life where the most annoying and painful things are almost always public transportation in Boston.

It could be way worse.