Chivalry and Murphy’s Law

On Friday, since I was making a fruit platter for about 75 people, I had this brilliant idea that I would bring in my suit case and load it up at Haymarket. Friday morning, when I arrived at the train station, I wheeled my very light bag over to the boarding area to wait. Once the train got there, a guy next to me grabbed my luggage out of my hand and carried it up the steep three steps. He commented on how light it was and asked me which car I was going in. Since he was going in a different car than me, he gave me my bag back.

I wheeled my bag to a seat and I was ready to put it in the over heard and another guy lifts it up for me and puts it in the over head rack for me. I say “Thank you.” and sit down.

When I arrive at North Station, I wasn’t planning on walking but I see a friend I walk with every once and a while and he was going to walk and I decide to join him. He offered to take my bag too and walk it eight-tenths of a mile to the Financial District.

I am happy and hopeful that later in the day, upon my return, I am as lucky as I was that morning.

I enlist the help of an office buddy to head to Haymarket with me and we shop away and pile all sorts of pineapples and melons into the suitcase. The 3 cartons of strawberries and six pounds of grapes, cherries, 5 kiwi’s and 8 Apricots were decided precious cargo and we carried in a separate bag. Between the two of us, we get all the fruit back to the office.

I leave the office…

I have my purse, my work bag, my suit case and a large reusable grocery bag. I don’t dare take this kind of weight to the T and down two flights of stairs and then up another huge flight of stairs so I decide to walk eight tenths of a mile.

I look like a freakin’ bag lady! Good thing I have chic luggage and have on a cute casual Friday outfit or I might have looked like I live on the streets!  Maybe my husband was right when he told me I couldn’t get a coolie cart…but my chic clothing would have been a dead give away that I wasn’t in fact a street person and I promised that if I got a coolie cart, I’d bedazzle the sh*t out of it so people don’t think I’m homeless but to no avail, he is still against the coolie cart.

Anyway, I walk…and I walk…and I walk! No one offers to help my damsel in distress self now that the luggage is heavy. I get to the station and wait for my train.  Once I board the train, I am psyched to see we have one of the new double deckers. I get on and realize I have to go up a little set of steps or down a little set of steps. I chose to go down. I look at the over head rack, it is made for work bags…not luggage. I don’t want to look like an a*shole putting my bag lady baggage on the seat so I look and look for a way out of being an a*s. I see they have seats with tables. I wheel my luggage over there and shove everything under it. FEW!! That was close.

I read my book at my table until I need to get off the train. Once we arrive at my stop, I grab all my bag lady crap and head to the stairs. Guys look at me and I smile but not one offered to grab my bag up the stairs. What the heck?! I finally get off the train and drag all my prized fruit to my truck. I head home so I can start my ninja training as a fruit chopper.

So, Murphy’s law got me…when I didn’t need the help and could manage just fine, I got all the help I needed and when I needed the help and was struggling juuuust a bit, no one helped at all.

All in all though, it was nice to have the fresh fruit and my fruit tray came out a success.