RTA, all the way...

#13 Public Transportation Blunders


Before you say anything, you need to understand something about me. 


I have become VERY frugal, when it comes to air & ground travel. 

This was seemingly most evident during my JVC year in Cleveland, when I took the city's buses to (and oftentimes from) Saint Martin de Porres High School regardless of the inclement weather. At first, was I hesitant and scared? You betcha. Did I often call one of my co-workers or assistant principal (Sutliff) for a ride? At will. Did I look under couches, use up one of our community bus passes, and--on a couple occasions--walk home from Tower City? Unabashedly, yes.


While there are TOO MANY stories to share in this entry, I will share with you some of the most outlandish of transportation tales...


1. A group of JCU students and I rode our bicycles down to the Rapid station around 6am for a funeral procession via bike. Unbeknownst to us, the train conductors cannot allow more than TWO bicycles on board during the early morning commute! Those of us who deemed "capable" of riding 20+ miles downtown (in the dark) were not too thrilled about this news, yet complied (attn: Callie).


2. Since I still consider Amtrak to be a form of public transportation, this episode made the list. I had purchased a round-trip (CLE-BOS) train ticket for the Christmas holiday and had convinced my JVC roommate, Veronica, to wake up at an insane hour and drive me to the Cleveland Amtrak station, which is hidden below the passageway to Browns Stadium. We left early enough to park and even grab a coffee; however, we had the darnedest time locating the actual entrance into the train station. It was not until the actual train starting whistling and gearing up that I started to really panic. I told Veronica to let me out about 50 yards from the actual station, yanked my rolling-luggage from her trunk, and booked it to the station, all while trying to keep my baggy tear-away pants above my waist. Necessary to say, I leaped up the slick and narrow steps of my respective train car, as I let out an incredible sigh. (Unfortunately, my Amtrak adventure had only just begun. Over the course of the next 20 hours, we had struck a truck carrying chickens and had to wait 2.5 hours for the police to file an accident report on board, were kept up by several loud passengers and rolled into South Station in Boston four hours LATE).


3. Just about every other nightmarish encounter with particular personnel and passengers aboard Greyhound Bus Lines (enough said).


4. I fell asleep at least once on the Green Line (heading back to JCU) and had to walk two or so miles in the pouring rain sans umbrella.


5. All the moments when I spent too long staring at another rider or eves-dropping another passenger's conversation. If I only could have turned my head or iPod on quicker!


May those who find themselves sharing their personal space or coming up a quarter short or even waiting too long for the next bus/train know that God has a special reserved seat for you in heaven. Safe travels...