My life on the train

As life has dictated it, I am currently working about 40 miles away from home in Arlington, Va. If I were to actually drive to work, it'd probably be more miles than that considering the distance is 40 miles if you go straight through D.C.

But I'm not that crazy. I take the Metro and instead of gnashing my teeth in traffic and wasting expensive gasoline, I grab a seat for a 40-minute train ride, read my morning Washington Post, and gnash my teeth at delayed trains and PA systems that sometimes work.

It's not the ideal situation, but I love Annapolis too much to move, and, believe it or not, the traffic is still better east of D.C. than south of it in my native Northern Virginia. So, you do what you have to to keep body and soul together. And, besides, a trip on the Metro can actually be kind of entertaining.

Here's a sampling of some of the sights, sounds, and thoughts (real or imagined) of a typical morning on the train:

Finally, here's the train. Running 10 minutes behind this morning.
Hurry, get a window seat on the shady side of the car.
First station, Landover.
Clickety clack screek.
Let's see, what's going on in the world today.
Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.
(muffled strains of some offensive rap song emanate from the earbuds of the passenger standing in the aisle four feet from me.)
Doors opening.
Geez, full train this morning. Guess I'll have to stand. Doors closing.
Clickety clack screek.
(A handful of other stops ensue, people cram into the car, including rowdy teenagers headed to some charter school or magnet program somewhere...they've got a long ride from southeast D.C. to who knows where in northwest.)
Next stop, Stadium Armory.
Hey, where you at? Huh? Wha'? I'm on the train. Hello? Hello?
Ah, what a beautiful morning. Pretty clear day, you can actually see the National Shrine over that hill behind the Pepco plant, and over there in the distance is the National Cathedral.
Attention customers. We'll be moving momentarily. There's a blue line train crossing in front of us.
And there's the Capitol dome and the Washington Monument. I love Washington!
(More stops)
Next stop L'Enfant Plaza.
(loud laughter) Stop it, man!
Why do those kids have to be so loud?
Hmmm....Maryland lost again.
What's at the movies this weekend?
Next stop, Metro Center.
Doors opening. Customers on the platform, please stand back and allow customers to exit before boarding the train.
Excuse me! Coming through! Excuse me!
Doors closing. Please stand clear of the doors.
Ouch! (as a woman's purse and elbow get caught in the car doors that do not bounce back like garage or elevator doors)
Hi, Trish? Hi, it's Chris. Would you tell Dan I'm on my way? The train's late; I'm still on the Metro. Thanks. (must be nice to have cell service underground.)
McPherson Square, doors opening on the right.
Ahhhh, room to breathe. (McPherson Square is one of the two major stops for federal and D.C. gov't. employees)
Clickety clack screek.
(more stops)
Next stop, Rosslyn, first station in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
(It's generally pretty quiet through the rest of the ride)
Next stop, Ballston-Marymount University.
Excuse me, stand to the right please. (Why don't people get the whole stand to the right, walk to the left thing on escalators?)
Why didn't that lady have her fare card ready? She had 50-some feet to get it in her hand!
(Passengers exiting dodge passengers sprinting to catch the next inbound train, which is already packed.)
(Finally make it to street level...these days it always seems colder here than it was in New Carrollton.)