Training Day on the Train

Last night I left work a little bit late. I got to the T station at 5:13pm and needed to catch the 5:30pm train out of North Station. Typically this is a piece of cake! Seventeen minutes to go two stops. Easy breezy! There was a train that just left and in about five minutes another one will arrive. Well, ten minutes later another train finally comes. Over the loud speaker a woman is screaming “This train is packed. Please allow passengers off before boarding. If you can’t fit, stay behind the yellow line!” The train passes me and it’s a man driving! What thaaaah?

The doors open and people come spilling out. However, these people aren’t disembarking the train to get off; they are allowing people off and then getting back on. It is a miracle I fit on this thing. I had seven minutes to get to my train now. It was going to be a close call. The guy driving starts yelling over the loud speaker “Lady with the blue coat, suck it in or get out! I can’t shut the doors.” The doors slam closed and whip back open again. “Lady! You don’t fit!” The doors slam closed and whip open once again. I don’t see this lady and all of a sudden I hear from the other end of the train car “Mind yo’ own damn business. I do fit! He is just being a pansy. He can shut the doors!” The doors close once more and now that I know where to look, I see the doors bounce off of her. Her stomach is not on the train and no, she is not pregnant! The rest of her is on the train but her stomach is protruding out the door.

“There is another train behind me. If you do NOT fit on this one, please get off and wait for the next train!” announces the conductor. He forgets to shut the loud speaker off and starts talking normally. “This lady needs to get off the train. I’m not hearing that clicking sound the door should make. You told me it would make a clicking sound.” The lady training this guy says “Don’t worry. It’s not your fault she is holding up the train. You can see her stomach hanging out on the video screen. It’s her!”

The whole train car starts giggling like school children trying to maintain composure. She finally caves “Y’all shut the hell up and mind yo’ own business!” She hops off the train and waits behind the yellow line with a sour puss on her face. She was angry!

As the train whips past the scrolling message board, I look at the time. It’s 5:26pm. I am not making my train and neither are the rest of the passengers I recognize from my commuter train.

This poor guy getting thrown into training during rush hour and the poor passengers subjected to the fact that we all have to learn and we all have to start somewhere. We tend to be  patient when it comes to learning and picking up new jobs. However, when you mess with our commute, it gets a little irritating. Although, this time, it wasn’t his fault. It was the lady in the blue jackets but he did take his sweet time getting to our stop. 10 minutes? Hmph!