I started to get frustrated today on the metro ride into work. Again, a delay involving an off-loading train and aggravated passengers even more sensitive due to the common lack of a morning caffeine fix. I sighed and read a few pages of my book.
In my frustrated pre-coffee state, I tried to calm myself with thoughts of how aggravating driving and parking is in this area. In fact, last weekend, I was driving around town (again searching for my morning coffee). It was a nice day so I had the top down on my Miata and was enjoying the warm breeze- plus I found a parking space immediately!
Good karma, right? Wrong. The car pulling out was much longer than my car so I thought it was going to be a breeze. I was wrong. The spot was much smaller than anticipated and I misjudged the angle. Suddenly, I was landlocked without inches to negotiate. I was up on the curb and with only an inch or so in the front. I was stuck and hadn't even had my coffee yet!
I sat in my car. Stuck. My wonderful friend who cannot drive a manual shift looked hopelessly at me, attempting to coach me into the spot. Onlookers started to giggle at my pathetic parking attempts. Finally, a kind gentleman who managed a store nearby offered to park the car for me. Without even thinking, I jumped out and exclaimed, "Yes, please!" Within one minute, he expertly parked without any bumps or any pokes at my parking abilities. But what drama to get a cup of coffee!
Today, sitting on the metro, I read my book and relaxed with the delay. While I am now laughing at my parking incident, I am thankful that I can sit back and relax on the metro without worrying about parking, driving through aggressive Type-A sedans and SUVs. But it did show me that if you get out of your car, you might just meet someone nice. Who knows what is around the next corner...
I feel your pain on the Metro frustrations. On the one hand, it's frustrating to watch packed Orange Line trains have to share space with half-full Blue Line trains. On the other hand, if we made the collective decision to stagger our commuting times between 7-11am in the morning and 4-8pm in the evening instead of the current everyone-leaves-at-8am-and-5pm system, there wouldn't be such a crunch (on the roads or in the series of tubes).
Posted by: TheGreenMiles | October 31, 2007 at 02:55 PM