Trials and Tribulations of Public Transportation

As luck would have it, it is raining cats and dogs this morning and, of course, it's Monday. I contemplated driving into work, however, I decided it best to ride public transportation as I normally do because I figure it would be safer than driving.

It's truly messy getting on the bus with an umbrella in the pouring rain, but not much more than getting into the SUV, I guess, so I headed to the bus stop at o'dark thirty this morning determined to make the best of it. The rain had let up a bit so getting on the bus was no problem. Once onboard, I settled into my seat, grabbed my Zune, and commenced to listening to some tunes. As usual, I was dozing in no time!

I awoke, as I normally do, when we turned off the Interstate weaving our way toward Forsyth Street which would take us to the Five Points MARTA station where I would get on the train heading North. Once we arrived in front of the station, I disembarked from the bus only to notice there were crowds and crowds of people out front as well as inside of the station. This seemed a bit unusual to me but I chaulked it up to the rain and it being a Monday. Silly me (if I had only known)! And well, I wasn't fully awake from my nap yet, however, that was about to change!

Much to my dismay, when I walked further down into the station on the way to the Northbound track, I was confronted with folks telling me something - one after the other. Of course, I was still listening to my music so didn't hear a word they were saying. I took my ear plugs out just in time to hear a few folks tell me that the Northbound train wasn't running. Once I arrived at that platform, a MARTA attendant told us that the Northbound train would be running from the Southbound track, that the electricity was out on the Northbound track. So, a group of us turned around and headed for the Southbound track. Once we arrived there, the MARTA attendant told us that the train had arrived on the wrong side of the track (the Northbound side where we just were standing) but that it couldn't go Northbound but would be heading to the airport. What to do?

Now I'm reading the AJC and they say there was a fire in the tunnel near the Midtown station which prompted the outage. This has happened before in that same tunnel. I ask you, how does a fire start in the tunnel of a train where there is no access to humans (well, unless you're on a train)? Are the rats catching on fire from standing on the electric track? If so, wouldn't they just burn quickly? What is in the tunnel that is catching fire? Perhaps they should install a sprinkler system within the tunnels or at the very least rid the area of debris on a weekly basis. But I digress . . .

Anyhoo, after the last misguided information about the train, the attendant then told us that there were MARTA shuttles outside on Forsyth Street that would take us to the Art Center station where we could take a Northbound train from there, circumventing the problem at the Midtown station. My own bus, the GA Xpress 477, goes to the Art Center station as well so I decided to go back out to wait on the next 477 to come along. I would catch that one and head North to Arts Center and catch the train from there. I headed back up to the top of the station. As I'm on the escalator almost to the top, I drop my Breeze card, flat on the escalator step that is rolling and rolling. The Breeze card is a plastic card the side of a credit card that holds fare for the bus and the train which at this time has about $70 worth of fare on it. I knelt down to grab it just in time before the top of the escalator sucked it, and my fingers and hand, underneath!! Whew, that was a close call - scared me to death!

After gathering my wits about me after that incident, I headed back outside. Unfortunately, I went to the Peachtree exit instead which meant I had to tap in and out twice to get to the Forsyth Street side where the buses were. It's $2 to come in or out without transferring to a bus. Oh well, I finally made to to the buses where I boarded a GA Xpress bus that was headed to the Arts Center. Not the 477 but another one who said he would go that way to help out. Once onboard, the MARTA attendent on the sidewalk announced that the trains were now running so I quickly disembarked from the bus and headed back into the train station to catch the train. Thank God, a MARTA attendant was there at the turnstiles letting folks back in without paying yet AGAIN.

I headed to the Northbound track where probably 5,000 people were headed as well. I was able to catch the next Doraville train heading North, arriving at the Doraville station at 7:13 a.m. Just in time to catch the 7:15 a.m. shuttle to the office off Clairmont Road. Our shuttle driver had the most aromatic cup of coffee that made me wanting that first cup ever so badly. After arriving at my building, I immediately headed to the snack bar to get that coffee which is just what the doctor ordered.

Safe and sound and dry again! All is well!

The Funniest Question I've Ever Been Asked

This morning on the train, I was approached by a guy - actually another panhandler. He started chatting with me whilst I had my Zune blasting tunes through my ear plugs! I couldn't hear a word he was saying. It always amazes me that folks can't see black wires dangling from one's ears and more than likely they know the person is listening to music, yet they will talk and talk. But I digress.

I yanked the ear plugs out of my ears because the guy seemed a little persistent. BTW, this is about 6:20 a.m. He immediately said, "First, let me say good morning." By the look on my face, I'm sure he realized I was not amused nor did I think it such a "good morning", especially after he interrupted a perfectly wonderful Pink Floyd tune I was listening to. He then said, "Would you like to help me get on the bus legally?" If I hadn't been so PO'd, I probably would have laughed in his face! I immediately replied, "No". He then stood up and walked down the train car to harass someone else. When he stood up, I noticed his pants were down around his knees. I would have gladly given him $25 to go buy new pants that fit, if I thought that is what he would have done with the money!

Get on the bus legally - for Pete's sake, it seems he gets on the bus and train just fine legally or not. These folks will try just about anything I guess! He really should come up with a better line!! And a better approach!!

Observations

My, my what a week it has been. It started out with 20 degree weather and snow on the ground and will happily end with 70 degree weather and blue skies. We usually have a freak Spring snow storm, it seems. Pretty weird, but it happens. Never in the winter but usually in the Spring. Go figure. Only in Georgia!

In spite of the cold, snowy start, the week really didn’t seem to get any better. Well, not until today with the temperatures soaring into the high 60’s and beyond. There will be many folks playing hooky this afternoon, I’m sure of it. I, myself, am leaving shortly to go run some errands and then head home to start cooking for our wine tasting benefit tomorrow evening. We also have a Meet and Greet in the morning at Pooch Porch Café in Alpharetta. Busy, busy, busy!

But I should share with everyone some of my mass commuting experiences of the week. It began on Monday morning. I was not physically present for this one, however, a full blown description of the event was provided to me by my workmates. I happened to have been on the train directly behind the one they were riding, thank God, so I did not witness this. I would have died laughing I think, and probably would have been shot on the spot.

Nonetheless, it was a very frigid morning with the temps barely breaking 20 degrees. This is, of course, about 6:15 a.m. I don’t think the sun was even up at that point. So what happened on the train, you ask? Well, my workmates were sitting in the train when a fellow rider got up from his seat and promptly walked to the end of the train car. You can walk from train car to train car by opening the doors (just like in the movies), however, this is suppose to be for emergencies only. I guess this must have been an emergency, at least for this man or at least in his own mind. He stepped out of the train car, turned to his right and then put his head down, never venturing to cross over to the next train car. He then stood there for a minute and then shook himself a bit. He fumbled around a bit, and then walked back to his seat. Yes, you guessed it, he was relieving himself. In the frigid weather, no doubt, while the train is moving about 50 mph. I’m surprised he has a weenie left after that display. Again, I would have died laughing and probably would have been shot for doing so.

Wednesday morning we were leaving our train station in our shuttle van, heading to work. Walking across the parking lot was a black man on the arm of a white, red-haired woman. None of this was odd, but the fact that they were both blind is what struck me. Yes, they both had walking sticks so it was apparent they were blind. They quickly crossed the parking lot, heading straight for the turnstiles to enter the train station. Once at the turnstiles, they found their MARTA cards which gained them entrance into the station. They walked straight across to another bank of turnstiles which led to several MARTA buses waiting to take passengers to different areas on their routes. They passed through those turnstiles and then climbed onto one of the waiting buses. I just sat there watching this entire thing with awe and wonderment. It struck me as so, because those of us who are sighted have such a difficult time with the MARTA system (sometimes, well, yes maybe a lot of the time), so that it is totally awesome that folks who are challenged are able to navigate through the system and safely get from point A to point B. I’ve seen many blind folks in the stations during the last year and every time it moves me more than the last.

Then yesterday on the train from Brookhaven to Five Points, the train stalled at the Lindbergh station, for what appeared to be, no apparent reason. We sat there for about 20 minutes and then were asked to leave our train and wait on the platform for the next train waiting to approach the station, which we did. Then a train on the Northbound track approached going Southbound. A bunch of folks got off that train and came over to our train. We then sat there for another 35 minutes or so, with the doors open, and people milling about here and there. Another train came on the Northbound track, going Southbound. We thought it was there to pick us up so we all disembarked and went over to that train. On the train signs, it said it was headed to the Airport which would have been the direction we were going. Once on the train, the conductor announced that no, it was headed back Northbound to the Chamblee station, basically where we had started from. That was definitely not the direction we needed to go so we quickly disembarked, running back to our original train which was still sitting there.

Apparently at the very next station there had been a fire on the tracks, actually on the Southbound side which is why we were detained for so long, although the word on the streets at the time was that there was a fire in the tunnel. Neither situation was good for us as no trains were going Southbound or Northbound, between the Arts Center station and the Lindbergh Station and we had to get past the Arts Center station to get to Five Points to catch our bus.

Our original, now empty, train was directed to go ahead of us. We figure it was the “sacrificial train”. If it made it through the tunnel, then they would send in our train, which was now full of people. We had been sitting there for some time and these trains normally run through a station every 5-8 minutes, so you can only imagine how many folks had piled into the train by then. About 10 minutes later, our train finally closed it’s doors and then proceeded Southbound, very slowly, I might add. I guess so that if we did go through any fire, we would suffer even more, especially at that speed.

We finally made it to the Five Points station. What a relief – finally - free, free at last! It was so hot, and people were so packed in that train you couldn’t move. My workmate and I practically ran off the train, up the escalator and across Peachtree Street, to where our bus would pick us up. Air, fresh air, it was delightful. And cool, finally, it was cool. Our bus arrived in just a few minutes – we were lucky we caught one so quickly. We promptly boarded and headed to a seat. I noticed even before we sat down, that it was pretty hot in there. I asked another rider and, sure enough, the air conditioning was broke. But, thank God, buses usually have escape hatches on the top which can be opened, much like a sunroof. They were open and provided some relief, especially if the bus was moving pretty fast.

Unfortunately for us though, there were two wrecks on I-20, both of which had traffic backed up forever or nearly so. We sat and creeped, sat and creeped but finally made it to the bus depot. After the day was all said and done, I finally arrived home around 6:30 p.m. I left work at 3:45 p.m.

Today, I decided to drive myself!

Just a few observations and experiences from the week – the weekend just has to be better!

On The Commuting Front . . .

Well, yesterday I woke up before the roosters and met my cubemates on the early bus - I mean early, like it's the first bus of the morning at 5:15 a.m. Yes, that means I have to leave my house by 5 a.m. to make it to the bus stop in time. Errgh!! I did it, much to my dismay. We arrived at the Brookhaven Station by 6:25 a.m. or maybe a tad earlier. Our shuttle (again, the first one of the morning) doesn't arrive until 6:45 a.m. So, what did we do with that extra time - of course, we proceeded across Peachtree Road to visit the local Dunkin' Donuts. Well, I just couldn't resist getting a chocolate frosted raised donut - heck, why not? How many WW points could it possibly be? I also had the audacity to order a medium coffee with Equal (really, would it make any difference at this point if I used real sugar?). She asked if I'd like cream and as I was pondering the Equal/sugar thing, I unconsciously blurted out, "Yes, I would like cream". When I had focused again, I figured if I was going to treat myself to a donut, I wouldn't miss out on the cream, too. The deed was done! I sipped my coffee on the shuttle ride to the office and devoured the donut at my desk shortly after I arrived. It was heaven, I must say. And it definitely satisfied that "need" to have a sweet, fattening, treat! It also used six of my 22 points allotted for the day. "Blasted!", I thought but you know, this is what WWs does, it teaches you to eat right and not to waste calories on stuff like that. Lesson learned! No more donuts! (first one I've had in about a year!)

So with that being said, this morning I decided I would take my regular bus at 5:35 a.m. It would give me another 20 minutes prep time and NO TIME to walk over to Dunkin Donuts to be tempted, once again. It's all strategy, you know? Well, I must have missed the 5:35 a.m. bus by a minute or two so had to wait for the next bus at 5:50 a.m. No biggie, I thought, I'd still get to work around 7:15 a.m. or so.

As we were heading down I-20, the "in-training" bus driver took the Six Flags exit. I immediately woke from my nap, having noticed the shift of the bus and eventual stop at a red light. This was not the usual route - not at all. The regular bus driver took over at that point. He meandered around Six Flags, on past Charlie Brown Airport, to MLK Drive. I hadn't the foggiest idea where he was taking us. I honestly thought I may have gotten on the wrong bus but there are only two that come to my bus stop and they both take you downtown to the MARTA station. So, I patiently listened to my music on my Zune, all the while carefully watching where the driver was going. He eventually looped around and hopped on I-285 ending up at the I-285/I-20 interchange. I was so disoriented, I had no idea if we were heading North, South, East or West. He did get on I-20 from there and then we were definitely heading East. Good, I thought, it wouldn't be long and I would be on the train heading North to Brookhaven. Unfortunately, as I was running down the escalator, I soon saw the tail end of a train heading that direction so had to wait on the next one. Another near miss (story of my life).

I finally arrived at the Brookhaven Station only to see our shuttle bus leaving the Station. Again, a near miss, what, is there a full moon or what? So, we had to wait on the next shuttle. I say "we" because there were 12 other Department of Revenue employees waiting as well. There are usually two shuttles running and they show up every 15 minutes. As we were waiting, a very strange man was walking up to the Station. I had seen him a few mornings ago as well. He is carrying two white plastic bags that look like they are from a department store and I can see they are both packed full of something. The other morning when I saw him, he was carrying the two white overstuffed plastic department store bags, as well. This morning as he is nearing the turnstiles to enter the Station, he is glaring at our group, with his head cocked, peering over his glasses. I mean he has stopped dead in his tracks, and is flat out staring. He eventually enters the turnstiles and heads up the escalator. The other morning he actually approached where my cubemates and I were sitting and walked around us doing the same thing - head cocked, peering over his glasses, and flat out staring at us. I didn't think that much about this strange man the other morning, thinking it was a fluke and most likely I would never see him again. I must say that I have not felt uncomfortable or scared riding MARTA until this morning. I cannot imagine what he is looking at! Maybe he wants to ask one of us about his taxes? Who knows? In any event, it is quite unnerving, to say the least. I'm just thankful there are scads of people milling about so I'm not standing there all by myself!

To summarize the commute this morning with one word - weird. Just plain old weird. And this is the icing on the cake of weirdness encountered today - as we were waiting on our shuttle, a white stretch limo pulled up to the loading area as if he were about to drop someone off. My initial thought was, "why is a limo dropping someone off to get on MARTA?" Well, no one exited the vehicle so then I thought maybe he was picking someone up. Again, why would someone riding MARTA be getting into a limo to be driven on to their final destination? A taxi, yes, but a limo? No one came though and as we were boarding our shuttle I noticed the limo had pulled out of the station and was looping back around to the front loading area again. Really weird, I thought.

I joked with our shuttle driver that at first we all thought he had come to pick us up in that limo. He laughed and said "Nope, not today." Thirteeen of us then piled into the stinky, white cargo van to head to work. No limo for us! A girl can dream, can't she?

I finally arrived at work at 7:40 a.m. - almost 40 minutes later than normal. All because I missed my bus and had to wait 15 minutes on the next one. Go figure.

Sightings Along the Way

As you can imagine, I see many things on the way to and from work. It's almost a given if you think about the different modes of transportation that I use - a bus, a train, and a shuttle.

The train going home yesterday was no exception. We usually get on the last car on the train because it drops off right at the escalator at the train station so we can easily hop on and hopefully catch our bus on time. Anyway, yesterday's train was a short one, meaning it wasn't near as long as it usually is which, unfortunately, means everybody who thought they were going to get on the last car of the long train (which is usually further down the track at the train station) end up squished together in the last car of the shorter train. Did I loose you there? Don't worry, it isn't that important in the grand scheme of things.

Once onboard, I sat down next to a young African American boy who I thought to be around 12 years old or so. I started chatting with him, asking him all sorts of questions. He was very forthcoming which is something his parents should speak to him about. My Mom always told me not to speak to strangers. Anyway, I digress. I found out that this kid was actually in the 10th grade which would make him what, 15 years old maybe? He sure didn't look a day past 12! He assured me he was telling the truth and I assured him that 20 years from now he would think that looking younger would be a pretty nice trait. He then told me he was on his way home from school. I asked what school and he replied that he went to Dunwoody High School. I then asked where was home and he said he lived south of there. Come to find out he gets off at the Five Points Station and takes the Eastbound train where he finally gets off at the Kensington Station. So, he lives somewhere around there. All being said, he traveled quite a distance to get to school. Probably as far as I travel to get to work. I asked him why he did that and if Dunwoody High School was a better school than any around his neighborhood and he said it most certainly was. It'd have to be for me to make that trek everyday as a 15 year-old! He did admit that he got lost alot, even as recent as last week! I felt bad for him but assured him I get lost most everyday in Atlanta, which is basically true. If not for my Garmin, God knows where I would be right now!

We chatted some more and then he started working on some schoolwork, most notably, an essay he had to write for class. He asked me to proofread it for him which I gladly did. The students were instructed to write a fable and it had to be 200 words long. His fable involved a Leprechaun which he had mispelled (and which I had to Google to be sure I had it spelled right) and another character by the name of Wiggledodo. I laughed and asked him to pronunciate "Wiggledodo" and he did, and yes, it is pronounced just as it is spelled. The fable was about the difference between a human heart and the heart we normally see at Valentine's day. He hadn't finished the story so I don't really know how he connected the two characters to the differences in the hearts or what differences he planned to spell out. We chatted a bit more and I learned that he does have a computer at home but only has Internet access when he goes to his grandmother's house which I thought was a good thing except that the Internet is a wonderful resource tool for school kids. Maybe Grandma isn't that far away!

Oh, and they did a career quiz type exercise in class that day and it was determined that he should be a Professor. He was pretty psyched about that which is cool. A really nice young man.

Then we get to the train station and disembark and head to our bus while the young man headed to his Eastbound train. I'm sure I probably won't run into him again so I won't hear the end of his fable but I'm sure he probably received a good grade on it. That required quite an imagination to come up with that story to start with and I'm sure from the little bit that I read, he told the story well.

On our ride home we usually see alot of panhandlers, crazies wanting to convert us, others talking to invisible beings, others being rude, etc. It was very refreshing to see a nice young man like that working on his homework and being a nice person.

Why Is It That . . .

Strangers insist on talking to you when you have earbuds in your ears on the bus/train/shuttle and you are obviously listening to something? This happens to me daily on the commute to and from work and for the life of me, I cannot understand. Do they think I have earbuds in my ears because "it looks cool"? Or do they think the earbuds in my ears are "a new fashion accessory"? Or perhaps they think I'm with the FBI and I'm "tapping" in on someone. I don't know but what I do know is it's quite disturbing to get disturbed in the middle of a wonderful song by the Beatles or Keith Urban or Frank Sinatra or Jimmy Buffet or the Goo Goo Dolls or Kenny Chesney or anyone for that matter (the list is endless, as you can see).

Yes, I am usually listening to some music or a downloaded podcast or something on my most delightful Zune. It's quite relaxing, I must say, and definitely beats listening to everything else around me! I'm obviously just not that social when it comes to sitting in a contained moving object with a bunch of folks I don't know! Oh well, I try but honestly, my only goal on the bus/train/shuttle is to get from one point to another - safely and without error. I am usually successful!

And Just When You Think You've Seen It All . . .

Okay, every day riding the transit system is definitely a new experience. It never ceases to amaze me the number of different people one sees on the daily commute. There are construction workers, businessmen in suits, fast food workers, office workers, college students, homeless people - you name it, they're on the train!

Today though, I saw something that almost had me on the floor laughing so hard. A rather tall gentleman had come down the escalator and was waiting at the platform for the next Northbound train. I was standing right beside him, also waiting for the train, when I noticed he was carrying something under his arm. It was, yes indeed, a hemorroid pillow just like the one pictured above. His was orange though and I swear he looked as if he were about to head down to the shore with his tiny life preserver and "save" someone. Poor man - I felt so bad for him! If that had been me (and thank goodness it isn't) I think I would deflate it, stuff it in my laptop bag and then inflate it when I arrived at work. No one would be the wiser. :) If I see him tomorrow, perhaps I'll suggest that to him (not!).

You definitely see all kinds and all things on the public transit system. I told a friend of mine today - if it weren't so darn entertaining, I just don't know if I could do this day in and day out! But it is incredibly entertaining. And so I continue participating, saving scads of money and lots of gas, and usually walking around with a smile on my face!

The Perils of Public Commuting

As some of you know, I've joined the masses in using public transportation to get to and from work. My one-way commute is 41.7 miles so anything is an improvement over that. And with gas prices rising daily, it's much more economical, to say the least. I can certainly afford the two tanks of gas a week it normally takes me but I refuse to support the high prices. There is no reason it should cost so much. I believe it now costs me about $4 a day to commute using the bus and train.

So, the morning starts at 3:45 a.m. when I roll out of bed. I shower, feed the girls, eat breakfast, do some email, do makeup and hair, dress, crate the girls, and get out of the house by 5:15 a.m. The Express Bus that I ride from Hiram leaves the Hiram movie theaters (that's where we park) at 5:35 a.m. Once on that bus, we pick up a few folks along Thornton Road. Well, that's where the story gets kind of funny. For the two weeks I've been doing this, there is a woman who gets on at the BP station on Thornton Road. She is a rather large woman, well, I'm being nice there - she is actually fat. And, unfortunately, with all the empty seats on the bus, she always sits by me. Or I should say "on" me. The seat just isn't big enough for her ass so she spills over onto me. Today, I tried something different in that I sat further back on the bus, thinking she wouldn't see me but no, lo and behold, she scouted me out and plopped her fat self down right beside me. It is quite uncomfortable to endure for the ride to the MARTA Five Points Station where I am then, thankfully, set free. Typically this isn't a problem as my cubemate usually rides with me and sits beside me. Unfortunately, though, he is on vacation this week so I have had to fend for myself and obviously I haven't been doing a good job of it. My friend also drives to the office on Thursdays so that is another day that I have to grin and bear it, I suppose.

The other morning I got on the train and stupidly sat beside a man who smelled as if he had just finished a 6-pack of Bush beer only a few hours before. And that's a 20-25 minute ride. UGH!! I could hardly breathe and felt I'd certainly get drunk on his second-hand fumes.

Once at the Brookhaven Station, I disembark and walk down to the street level where there is usually a van, compliments of the Department of Revenue (where I've worked as a contractor for the last four years), waiting to take a group of us the remaining 10 minutes to the building where we work.

The other afternoon on the bus ride home, I sat beside a rather nice black gentleman who coincidentally works as a contractor at the IRS. I thought that was a hoot. Who would have thunk it? We certainly didn't chat about taxes!

Needless to say I spend most of my days strategizing my commute and how to make it all more comfortable. One effort on my part toward that goal is the purchase of a new Zune. It's Microsoft's answer to the iPod and is suppose to have better sound and video than the iPod. It will keep me occupied watching movies and listening to ebooks and music. One of the factors in my decision to get the Zune instead of an iPod is that at this time it has far fewer accessories than the iPod which will ultimately save me more money as I won't be inclined to "buy this and buy that".

This morning was definitely a step in the right direction despite getting sat on like a chicken egg on the bus! The train was slammed packed full of people when even more of us stepped aboard at the Five Points Station. This black gentleman actually asked me if I'd like to sit (there were no more seats) and then proceeded to get up so I could sit down. Obviously I took him up on his offer as I am still lugging my personal laptop to and from work and it does get rather heavy after a little bit of time. That was very nice of him and actually instilled a bit more faith in me that mankind isn't all that bad after all.

And today I was successful in getting the MARTA turnstile worker to show me how to swipe the bus to rail transfer card so that the turnstile would open for me. I've not been able to do that since beginning this adventure last week. Normally the same little guy will just tell me, "you're holding the card wrong". Well, no kidding Einstein. After that he usually will then swipe his card which will open the turnstile for me to get into the train station. I was in the right mood (after the uncomfortable bus ride) to stop and ask the little Marta worker, "well, show me how to hold the card so it does work". Imagine that . . . providing information to an individual so they learn and, therefore, won't need to bother you the next morning. What a novel idea. He reluctantly showed me the "right" way to swipe the transfer card. I hope I won't dissappoint him on Monday when I try using his instructions. We can only hope . . .

The bright thing in all of this is that I practically still have a full tank of gas from the fill-up on Sunday! Can't beat that! And I am much less stressed when I get to work and when I get home, which is also a good thing. I'll continue this new mode of transportation as long as I can as I rather enjoy sitting and letting someone else do the driving. That, in and of itself, is the best part of it all and is definitely well worth the effort!