Boston Marathon 2013- What a Shame!

What a shame! What an absolute shame yesterday was in Boston. Yesterday was Patriots Day. It was also the Boston Marathon. Since my line of work depends on the stock market, we were all working yesterday because the stock market was in fact open. Every year I think “It’s unfortunate that I have to work. I’d love to be able to witness the marathon first hand.” However yesterday, it was fortunate that I was working. I wasn’t anywhere near the race. I was about a half a mile away and almost thirty stories up. I heard a big bang. I had passed it off as construction. I heard another loud bang a short time later and still thought it was construction. I thought nothing of it until the phones started ringing and vibrating off the hook!

“OMG Are you ok?” someone asks. “Why? What happened?” I ask.  I was told bombs had gone off at the finish line of the marathon. Phones still ringing and ringing. I couldn’t answer them fast enough. We ran over to the trading floor to watch the live footage on the TV. It was horrible! I wanted to immediately leave but my only way out was on the train. Probably not the best time to go for a ride on the train. I kept quiet as I took this all in.

When I came back to my desk, I called our head quarters to see what our evacuation policy was. No answer. My boss made the executive decision that we needed to leave. No one knew if any more were going off or who or where was next. Better safe than sorry. We packed into his car in the parking garage and headed straight out of the city. After hopping in his car, we realized we never told anyone we were leaving. We tried to call someone, anyone to let them know we were safe. However, between all of our phones, we couldn’t get a call out. Finally after driving for about a half an hour, we got a signal and our phones were lit up with voice mails.

We made the appropriate calls and pulled off the highway to regroup and figure out our next step. Luckily my husband was able to come pick me up from there and we retrieved my truck from the train station.

On my way to the train station, my army friend called frantically explaining that if this is in fact a chain reaction effect, I need to be careful. Bomb goes off in the city, people flood to public transit, people retrieve cars from train station parking lots. It’s best to err on the side of caution. My husband dropped me at my car and I did a lap around my car, checked under the chassis and reported back to her that I didn’t see any garbage or any strange wires. I got in my car and everything was fine.

I felt lucky! Nothing happened directly to me and all my friends and family were safe. I got home and turned on the news for a more in depth look at what happened. It was awful and shocking! What is wrong with people? After seeing this unfold, I wasn’t sure if I’d go into the city until it’s sorted out or calmed down.

Today, I got up and decided that I would go in because if I don’t, the bomber wins because I am afraid. I went to the train station and hardly anyone was waiting. I got on the train and again, hardly anyone. The whole ride in I was going back and forth in my head, trying to decide if I would walk to work or take the T. They were inspecting bags and that did make me feel safe. However, is it really worth the hassle to go two stops?  

I got an email stating that there were delays due to a disabled train at North Station so, I had my answer: Walk! I met up with some friends and we walked together toward the financial district. Along the way were parked cruisers, alert officers and helicopters hovering from above. I didn’t even feel like I was in America. I felt like I was in another country. This is so surreal.

When I got to my office, they had blocked off all entrances but one. I had to walk around the block just to get in. Once entering, the entire security team from the building was on that side. After passing through them, I was finally able to go on the elevator and haven’t left the office since.

I am grateful that our city and security are taking these precautions. It does make me feel safer and helps me with my decision to come in to work today. A huge thank you to everyone for keeping us safe in the aftermath of this horrible tragedy.

Happy Marathon Monday!

It’s marathon Monday and most of the Bostonian’s have today off as it is Patriots Day. I completely forgot it was a holiday as I am in the world of finance and if the stock market isn’t closed, neither are we. I hopped in my car and went to the train station this morning. On my way over there, I heard the announcer on 98.5 suggest that all the people heading into the city for the Marathon, use the T or Commuter Rail. I thought “Great! This is going to be interesting.” I pull into the train station and get a great parking spot (Score!). When I get to the platform, there are a few people I recognize but most have the day off. Everyone else had on “tourist gear”. A sox game and a marathon! It’s a great day in Boston today!!

As the train approaches, it stalls about 100 feet from the platform. I hate when the train is in sight and you can’t get on. Fifteen minutes later, we are back in business. The train picks us up and we are on our way. The entire train was full of excited marathon cheer leaders that couldn’t wait to get to the side lines. These people were already jacked up on a caffeine high or just high on life as they would be witnessing some amazing people cross the finish line today.

When I got to North Station, I went to hop on the Orange line. Either the side line cheer leaders didn’t know where to go or they felt like walking but not too many people were around when I got on the orange line. It was the first time in a while that I had gotten on the T and it wasn’t packed like sardines. It was spacious this morning and I realized that it’s harder to keep your balance with all your space then it is when you’re packed in. I held on to the rail extra tight and planted my feet firmly to the ground. This driver liked her breaks and I wasn’t about to let myself go flying down the aisle like I’ve seen some people do in the past.

I hope everyone has a great day today and I really hope those runners stay hydrated and cool with the weather approaching record highs. About 4,000 people have dropped out of the race (roughly 26,000 remain) and I don't blame those 4,000 one bit.