Its the Most Muggleful Time of the Year
Many different people point to many different signs to indicate that the Christmas season is upon us. For some it is the first snow, for others it is when Christmas decorations go up at their favorite department store, and for still others it is when the sales start heating up. For me particularly, it is none of these things, Christmas's official kick off for me is the South Shore train the day before Thanksgiving, and this year was no different.
The day before Thanksgiving is one of the two craziest days of the year to be a South Shore commuter, with the other one being the 3rd of July. This year as usual as the train approached the Van Buren street stop, it was already standing room only. Everyone crammed in, and I made my way to find a part of a wall to lean on, instead of being stuck in the aisle somewhere falling into someones lap. Also boarding the train at Van Buren with me was one of the largest men you will ever see outside of captivity. A solid 6'6" at least, he also manages to carry at least 300 pounds around on that frame. For obvious reasons his nickname with us is Sasquatch. As Sasquatch got on the train after me, he decided he didn't want to stand where there was space left and instead proceded to push through the crowd to the otherside of the train car. Now you all remember the joke about where the 800 pound gorilla sits? Imagine the same joke, except on an overcroweded commuter train. Sasquatch managed to shove one person standing, into a person who was sitting, who got shoved into the person sitting next to her. Finally someone had the courage to yell at him, and so he stopped and stood where he was. No apology, no acknowledgement... no nothing.
Now we are rolling along, as the train makes its first stop, people start to push through the people in the aisle to get off at Hegwisch. Sasquatch doesn't just move to one side of the the aisle, he procedes to lean over the people sitting down, practically hiding a kid from his dad. The dad twice saids to Sasquatch, with more than a little worry on his face, "you can't do that!" Finally after that stop, Sasquatch found somewhere else to stand, but luckily for you the reader, the fun doesn't end there!
After the East Chicago stop, one of the people I was standing with went into the bathroom to throw out his empty beer cans, and got an interesting surprise. Now it wasn't the usual Muggle who forgot to lock the bathroom door, this guy was sitting on top of the closed toilet seat, working feverously on his laptop. Apparently with no seats available, he decided that the throne was the next best thing to an office. Now for those of you who haven't had the misfortune of experiencing a South Shore bathroom, imagine a little bigger version of a portapotty and a sink, and you pretty much are there. How anyone could find that conducive to work is beyond me.
A good chunk more of the trip goes by and as we make the final approach to Dune Park, an ominous voice hits the PA system.
"Are there any doctors or EMTs on the train? If so could you find a conductor?"
It turns out a woman in the 2nd car had a seizure right then and there on the train. I don't know if she ended up sitting next to the guy who worked in the bathroom on his laptop, but she had fallen into the aisle and was shaking and very confused. I'll have to hand it to the local EMS, as they were there the quickest I have ever seen an emergency on the South Shore be handled. She seemed in much better shape as they took her off of the train, but they took her in the ambulance to the hospital, to run further tests.
That delay only set us back 10 minutes, in addition to the 10 minutes that we were already late. So then we cruised through Beverly Shores, and were coming up on the last curve before approaching the Michigan City 11th Street stop where your truely gets off, when we stopped again. Amtrak was now about to come through, and we had to wait for them. After another 10 minutes of delays, we finally got into the station. I got off of the train, got into my car, and started down 11th Street towards home. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear? The 4:30 train, pushing the 4pm train practically right out of the station. I could have waited for the later train and gotten a seat, and only gotten home two minutes later. Blah, I can't wait for the Muggles to be gone again.
The day before Thanksgiving is one of the two craziest days of the year to be a South Shore commuter, with the other one being the 3rd of July. This year as usual as the train approached the Van Buren street stop, it was already standing room only. Everyone crammed in, and I made my way to find a part of a wall to lean on, instead of being stuck in the aisle somewhere falling into someones lap. Also boarding the train at Van Buren with me was one of the largest men you will ever see outside of captivity. A solid 6'6" at least, he also manages to carry at least 300 pounds around on that frame. For obvious reasons his nickname with us is Sasquatch. As Sasquatch got on the train after me, he decided he didn't want to stand where there was space left and instead proceded to push through the crowd to the otherside of the train car. Now you all remember the joke about where the 800 pound gorilla sits? Imagine the same joke, except on an overcroweded commuter train. Sasquatch managed to shove one person standing, into a person who was sitting, who got shoved into the person sitting next to her. Finally someone had the courage to yell at him, and so he stopped and stood where he was. No apology, no acknowledgement... no nothing.
Now we are rolling along, as the train makes its first stop, people start to push through the people in the aisle to get off at Hegwisch. Sasquatch doesn't just move to one side of the the aisle, he procedes to lean over the people sitting down, practically hiding a kid from his dad. The dad twice saids to Sasquatch, with more than a little worry on his face, "you can't do that!" Finally after that stop, Sasquatch found somewhere else to stand, but luckily for you the reader, the fun doesn't end there!
After the East Chicago stop, one of the people I was standing with went into the bathroom to throw out his empty beer cans, and got an interesting surprise. Now it wasn't the usual Muggle who forgot to lock the bathroom door, this guy was sitting on top of the closed toilet seat, working feverously on his laptop. Apparently with no seats available, he decided that the throne was the next best thing to an office. Now for those of you who haven't had the misfortune of experiencing a South Shore bathroom, imagine a little bigger version of a portapotty and a sink, and you pretty much are there. How anyone could find that conducive to work is beyond me.
A good chunk more of the trip goes by and as we make the final approach to Dune Park, an ominous voice hits the PA system.
"Are there any doctors or EMTs on the train? If so could you find a conductor?"
It turns out a woman in the 2nd car had a seizure right then and there on the train. I don't know if she ended up sitting next to the guy who worked in the bathroom on his laptop, but she had fallen into the aisle and was shaking and very confused. I'll have to hand it to the local EMS, as they were there the quickest I have ever seen an emergency on the South Shore be handled. She seemed in much better shape as they took her off of the train, but they took her in the ambulance to the hospital, to run further tests.
That delay only set us back 10 minutes, in addition to the 10 minutes that we were already late. So then we cruised through Beverly Shores, and were coming up on the last curve before approaching the Michigan City 11th Street stop where your truely gets off, when we stopped again. Amtrak was now about to come through, and we had to wait for them. After another 10 minutes of delays, we finally got into the station. I got off of the train, got into my car, and started down 11th Street towards home. Then what to my wondering eyes should appear? The 4:30 train, pushing the 4pm train practically right out of the station. I could have waited for the later train and gotten a seat, and only gotten home two minutes later. Blah, I can't wait for the Muggles to be gone again.
posted by southsider2k5 @ 6:56 PM
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