Please don’t belch on me!

 

I hadn’t taken the metro since the accident on the red line. This happened while I was in Chicago on business. It was actually the opposite end of the line from where I take it, just as an fyi. Anyway, every day I heard about long delays so I counted myself lucky that I had found a reasonable route to work and was able to drive. However, it really is stressful to drive and I’d rather have the time on the metro to read, write or catch up on work. So I took the plunge and when the news said the red line was supposed to be back to normal, I waited another day and tried it.

There were throngs of people waiting on my platform. I’m lucky in that trains originate from my station so if I time it right, I can get on an empty train. After my station it isn’t empty anymore, but I can at least get a seat before it gets really tight. Two stops after mine, just when the air in the car was about to run out, I hear a woman shouting, “I’m a senior. Excuse me but I’m a senior!” I saw an older woman standing over someone but couldn’t see who it was through the crowd. I heard a man say, “So am I!” In other words, she was demanding his seat and he was refusing. This was even more unexpected than the lack of offers I received for a seat when I was 9 months pregnant.

The young guy sitting next to me immediately jumps up and offers her a seat. She sits next to me and proceeds to BELCH LOUDLY and without saying “excuse me” for the next 20 minutes. It should have only been 10 minutes, but the train kept stopping between stations. I had to pull out my ipod and frantically concentrate on untangling the cord before I could put it on to keep from laughing.

They have not gone back to normal and I still don’t trust that they’ve done anything to make it safer. I’ll try to drive as much as I can until then. I’m all for public transportation and saving money, but not if it isn’t safe!