Making Friends with the Staff?

This has nothing to do with the train but I am peeved! I was coming back to the office from a meeting and I was greeted by a security guard I see every day. A woman in front of me stepped through the gates to the elevator banks and now it was my turn.  She ignores the security guard and goes on about her business. As I am going through the gates to the elevator bank he says “How are you today? Have a good lunch?” I respond “Hey! How is your day going? Are you in tomorrow?” Tomorrow is a holiday for some so I’ve been asking. It is usually a good conversation starter before a holiday.

We chat for a second and the elevator comes. “I’ll see you later Stephan!” I say to him as I get on the elevator with this woman.

The doors close and she says “Making friends with the staff are we?”

I looked at her and was floored. Staff? Really! Yes, they work for our building but they protect us and greet us every single day! “I see him every day. They are all so very nice! Why wouldn’t I talk to the security guards? They are great people.” I say in my nicest, bubbly, happy voice.

She looked at her feet for the rest of the elevator ride. HA!

I think it speaks volumes about people when, because someone with a lesser job than they have, speaks poorly to them or flat out ignores them or poopoo’s on people for being nice to them. I was taught that you treat everyone with the same amount of respect regardless of their job title. From CEO to Janitor… SAME RESPECT! SAME INTEGRITY! 

 

THAT IS ALL! I hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend!

Spring is Obviosly Here! No?

This morning I woke up to a few inches of snow. Not bad at all after the big hype! I get ready for work and as I’m bundled up in my abominable snowman jacket, I read my emails on the off chance that there could be a delay because I don’t want to stand on the platform… in the snow… with my back pack…my purse AND a box full of 18 Mint Chocolate Brownie parfaits that I made for an office birthday (Uphill BOTH WAYS… yes that needed to be added for good measure!)

The emails keep coming! One train is canceled. The next has mechanical issues with only a 15 minute delay and needs to be pushed in to North Station by another train. The next… switch problems with a 20 to 25 minute delay and the one after that… CANCELED! I know that eventually a train will come get me but really… are these “delay times” accurate? I don’t know and with all the sh*t I am carrying, do I really want to have to stand on a sardine packed train that it will eventually turn into? NO!

I check google maps and it tells me to take the bus to the Blue line and then the Blue line to State. I have never done this before and I really don’t want to go through Lynn during rush hour. I throw my pepper spray in an easily accessible pocket and I head to the bus stop!

The bus is there within 2 minutes. I hop on and guess what? I get a seat!!!!! My sh*t even gets a seat for a while until the bus gets a little more crowded and I move my parfaits and allow someone who just got on to sit. We arrive at Wonderland and the train is sitting there…waiting for us and get this… I get a seat again! This is great! I check my phone as the Blue line whisks me in to the city. The train still has not come for my fellow commuter rail folks. They are still waiting and I’m halfway to work!

I arrive at my office a half hour late but this pales in comparison to where I’d be had I waited for the train that was only 25 minutes delayed. I check my phone again and while I am at work, my fellow commuter rail people are still on the platform an hour and a half after a train should have got them.

Thank goodness this was a mild winter and thank goodness spring is kinda-sorta here!

Left my Shopping Bag on the Train

It happened. I’ve been coming in and out of the city for 5 years and have always worried about leaving my nondaily items behind because I’m such a habitual person that I’d grab my work bag and purse and take off. So, I always… always… put my shopping bag on my lap. Well, yesterday I didn’t have room to do it so I put my shopping bag at my feet.

We arrive at my stop and I hop out into the aisle and walk almost to the exit when this woman screams after me that I forgot my bag. I had to walk back, hold up the line and retrieve my bag. I’m glad she was looking out for me though because I wouldn’t have realized I left it behind until I needed it… which would have been Mother’s Day when I would have been looking for it to wrap it.

I’m one of those people that when I see something someone will like, I buy it for the next holiday instead of last minute craziness. It works to my advantage…most of the time… when I remember to take them off the stinkin’ train!

Thanks to this lady, I have my present and she's restored my faith in my fellow train people that good people are out there!