Well, I totally forgot what the blog prompt was, so instead I'm going to tell you all the story of how I messed up with public transportation last Tuesday and spent an hour and a half on the subway.
It all started with my Honors Law class. "Go volunteer!" she says. "It will be fun!" she says. So, on Tuesday afternoon, I leave class and head toward the subway to go downtown and help immigrants with their English (side note: I am barely capable of speaking English myself. I don't know how I got into honors, but my trying to teach immigrants English will probably confuse them more). I'm supposed to be at the Nationality Services Center on Arch Street by 5:30. Here's a timeline:
4:50 I get out of class. Two other students that I'm volunteering with say they've forgotten volunteer forms. I have too, so I graciously volunteer to go to the Honors Lounge and print everyone's forms out while they go drop their things in their dorm rooms. I'll meet them in fifteen minutes at Cecil B Moore station. I go to Tuttleman, print out the papers, and head back out.
5:05 I'm strutting my way toward the subway when I realize a crucial object that I'm missing: cash for tokens. Sighing, I turn around and go to 7-11 on Liacourus Walk, anticipating a quick token trip. Now I'm not sure if anyone reading this has been to 7-11 on a weekday afternoon at 5:00; before this trip, I had not. But upon entering, I realize that this will not be a quick trip. Apparently, 5:00 is a popular time at 7-11, because the lines are literally out the door. I look at my watch and get in line.
5:15 After standing in line for ten minutes (and moving three inches), I realize that I've actually had a ten dollar bill in my pocket this whole time.
5:17 I'm running out of 7-11 when I catch someone familiar out of the corner of my eye. It finally clicks in my mind that it's someone I did theater with in high school. I didn't know she went here, and I'm so shocked that I can't even avoid eye contact and keep running. We have a quick exchange, but I realize once again that I'm late. I run off toward the subway.
5:26 I'm in the subway station, and my friend Brooke. She says she's here too, but I don't see her. Confused, I look around, and in the process let an incoming train leave without getting on it. Great.
5:34 I still can't find Brooke, but I get on the next train that comes. I'm already four minutes late to volunteer. Grateful to rest, I sit down in a seat and let my mind take a break.
5:42 I've been on the train for almost ten minutes, yet I'm still not at City Hall. Does this seem right? Suddenly I realize that I've not recognized any of the stops on this train. Then it clicks: I'm on the northbound, not the southbound. Snapping back into reality, I stand up and get off at the next stop. I have to go out into the street to get to the southbound train, and I step out into a sketchy neighborhood that I'm unfamiliar with. Is it just me, or are people giving me funny looks? My heart races, and I clutch tightly to my bag. This sounds rather ignorant of me. Am I racial profiling? I cross the street and go to the other side of the station. I just missed the train. At this point I'm fifteen minutes late.
5:50 The next train comes and I get on. I'm going in the right direction. The problem is, I'm going rather slowly because kids keep messing with the doors on the train. Really? Is it necessary to make each stop four minutes long?
6:00 Brooke calls me. She says it takes ten minutes to walk to the NSC from City Hall. Great. As we pull up to one of the stops, I see a train coming up in the express lane. I'm finally catching a break! I run off of my train and on the the express. I'll be at City Hall in no time.
6:05 This isn't the express train. This is the Broad-Ridge Spur.
6:07 I get off the train, in Chinatown. I didn't know that any trains went to Chinatown. Looking back, that was good information to find out, but at the time I didn't fully appreciate it. I get on the northbound to go back to the Broad Street Line.
6:12 Once again I'm headed in the right direction.
6:20 I get off at City Hall. All I have to do now is get to the NSC. The trouble is, they've blocked off every street exit that I can find. City Hall confuses me enough to begin with, and this is definitely not helping me. Finally, I find a way out. I look at my watch. It's 6:30; volunteering hour is over. Defeated, I turn around and get on the northbound train.
The moral of the story is don't try to use public transportation when you're overtired. Or if you're incapable of using logic to navigate your way around the city.
I hope that everyone reading this enjoyed my story, and doesn't give me a zero for straying from the prompt.
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