I was just thinking about that nice friend who warned me about starting a blog as I am in the last stages of preparation to birth, feed and take care of a baby (all without buying anything ahead of time of course!), prepare for maternity leave from my office, and set up a new house that needs lots of work before we can move in…Maybe he had a point.
Nevertheless, here I am! Speaking of coming towards the end here…Monday when I went to the metro I was determined to fight for a seat. Excuse me, to demand a seat. No one can believe it, but the entire time I’ve been pregnant, not one person has offered me a seat on the train. Granted, I only take it a couple of times per week, as we don’t live in the suburbs yet. But not one time??? That seems a bit strange to me. When I lived in Chicago I was offered a seat just because I was a girl going to work in heels. And with my feet, I took it! But…if an older person or someone pregnant or disabled came along, I jumped up and offered them my seat right away. That’s just what a menschy person does. Fortunately for the innocents on the train, everyone is on vacation this week and there were plenty of seats on the train for me.
Last week, as I was arranging my bags at my feet and trying to find space to hang on to the pole in the car with two hands (one is not enough to balance me these days) I was trying not to get very angry at everyone around me. I even heard someone (who was standing or I would have given it to them!) behind me talking about how “civilized” the DC trains are compared to other cities. I know everyone loves to talk about this. I do appreciate that the Metro is cleaner than the EL in Chicago, but what is more uncivilized? Eating and drinking fastfood on a train or refusing to offer a 9 months pregnant woman a seat?! I always tell myself that if I really felt I couldn’t stand anymore I would ask someone for their seat. Luckily on those days I’ve found one. Other days, when I’ve felt the steam start to come out of my ears I’ve been able to find a seat right at that moment. Not because anyone gave it up, but because they got off the train and no one else got to it first.
As I was standing there last week, with the steam building up inside my head, I was thinking about a conversation I’d had with a friend that day. We were talking about people who are just so negative and sure everything is a conspiracy and everyone is terrible that they do not have any close friends. I don’t want to be that person. I want to always see the best in people and not complain that everyone on the Metro is just a big meanie.
So where do I go from here? Because we’re moving in 10 days, just as I’m going to be in the last few weeks of pregnancy and work, I will have to start taking the metro every day, both directions. Okay, DC, you’ve got 10 days to condition your feet so that you can stand and I can sit! Now I’ll just need to make it 40 minutes door to door without a bathroom break…