One day last week I was meeting with somebody downtown regarding a job. I was thinking of taking the car but then after the snow storm the previous week, there were a lot of places which were still not cleared, so my hubby suggested me to take the train. And trains are better in conditions like these plus no tension of downtown driving and parking problems. So I decided to take the train. But the frequency was like one train in like an hour or so..I had to be there @ 10:30 and myself and my hubby looked at the schedule and felt that if i take the 8:32 train then I will be there an hour early but I will have more than ample time instead of the next train which will give me only 6-7 mins time to reach the venue..So left home and as I was approaching the train station, I could see the parking lots were full and I was hunting for a apace desparately, and then there I saw those bright lights pulling into the tracks for a halt...I got a little nervous but I cant do any mistakes there..every inch i drove away from the station into the parking lot, I was getting tensed off the distance I have to run to catch the train..and there I found a space, managed to park and grab all my stuff and I stepped out for a very cold wind touch....ooh it wasnt just very cold, it was something more than that....but I cant let this stop me so I decided to walk towards the station but to my dismay the train had already left...I took my cell phone and checked the time it was 8:34, so trains do come and leave at the said time, huh??? Now I was confused, shld I still take the train or just take the car and drive instead!!! Wtih all these thoughts in my mind I had already reached the station office and paid for the car parking also. So went inside and just wanted to make sure if I had really missed the train. But the tickets counter was closed, Now I was confused. What is this? Do they sell tickets here or not? I was nervous to notice the sign which said will be back by 9:15. So i went to the coffee shop and a friendly person greeted me and I asked her wont they issue tickets here( I think I sounded dumb)?? Then she asked me are u going downtown( I think she is used to people like me), to which I said yes, and she said dont worry, the next train is at 9:30 only, so he will open at 9:15 and u can get ur tickets that time and also asked me if i want something from her coffee shop, since my questions were answered and she was nice, i bought a coffee, even though I was not in a mood for it..
I called the person whom I was supposed to meet, to let her know if it would be ok, if I run in late by max 10 mins...but no response...left a voice msg and was sipping the coffee. In the mean time I received a call from my hubby to make sure if I was alrite and whether I got into the train or not, I briefed him my story and he asked me to better drive instead of waiting for the next train, even if there is traffic, I would be still able to make it before time. But then I told him I had left a msg and it would be better I take the train itself...one reason: I was scared to venture out and walk back to the parking lot. So there, he left it at that point and I waited there desparately for 2 things, the train and the phone call. After 10 mins the phone rang but it was my cous for Germany and she sensed I wasnt in my usual excitement and I had to tell her that I will call her back and I am expecting somebody else's phone call...my poor cous, wished me good luck and hung up...now I am sitting there in that small office, with may be 4 or 5 men and just that coffee shop lady. Finally it was 9:15 and the counter opened, i understood, no other trains come here may be, it being a suburb station and all, then slowly people started coming in may be like 10-12 people thats all...so I thought its just better to be in the crowd and just follow them..nobody was talking to anybody...couple of them were on their cell phones and the rest in their own world...so it was silence most of the time...2 mins before the train came, everybody started walking to the platform and i joined a oouple of ladies....woah it was so cold, have never felt this cold anytime before, and chicago is very famous for its winds and now its cold winds..to add to the situation I had forgotten the gloves, cant do much, except for putting one hand into the jacket and the other couldnt help becos I was holding to my folder. In that one minute, I found out that the 2 other ladies had also missed the other train, and they were waiting in the car, well it was a little relief for me that out of those dozen people 3 missed trains which is a good percentage so even regular commuters and people from here, can miss the trains...So me being new and not a train traveller, this thought kinda pacified me, becos I was feeling so stupid for missing the train... I dont know if its common to feel ok if we see somebody else also doing the same mistake which we did, looking for a little comfort there....then the train came at the said time (somebody's punctual here...hehe), boarded the train and sat in a place and everybody was either reading or listening to music, there were a couple of ladies (didnt look like office crowd) they were the ones who were chatting laughing etc....and then there was another lady who on her cell phone trying to finalise a real estate deal....well she was loud, not that I wanted to hear the conversation....
On my way I found something else which made me even more comfortable, lot of commuters have run towards the train from the streets or the parking lots which I could find from the foot prints on the snow...And I saw at some stations people running towards to train, I was even trying to see if they made it or not...that was the time pass I had during my journey
Finally I reached the destination at 10:23 and literally ran to make up my time....so atleast i can enter the reception by 10:30 and I did...I was glad, i even got a min to run to the restroom to make sure i look ok.....I was asked to wait at the conforence room and I was thinking it would be me and may be some more people there, but it looked like there was a whole lot of people there and that person was busy in arranging the meetings....no wonder I didnt get a call back!!!
And all went well and came back home happily...
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