Commuting

New York, NY - Peter - Wednesday, February 12th, 2003 : goo

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I take the 1 train south, from 110th street to 72nd street, where i catch the cross-town bus, which drops me off right smack in front of my office. Unfortunately, things weren't that simple this morning.

The doors on the car that I was riding in were having a problem. Any veteran strap-hanger knows such stories... the bells ding-dong, and the doors repeatedly open and close while the conductor yells at the passengers to "move all the way into the car and stand clear of the doors". Well, thats fine and good, but if no one is actually blocking the doors- and theyre still glitching- theres apparently some problem.

After riding from 110th to 89th in a car where one of the 6 doors only closed half-way (note: zipping through freezing-cold tunnels in a partially open car = no fun), they decided to take the train out of service... which means everyone had to get out at a random non-express stop. So, we all piled out at the 89th street stop... a whole rush-hour-full train of probably several thousand people, decidedly waiting for hte next local to roll in to pick us up. After two subsequent trains passed, full, I realized that there was slim to no chance I'd manage to squeeze on one anytime soon. So, I busted out of the station, street-bound, to hoof it across town to work on foot.

Thankfully, 89th street is one of three park-crossing crosstown streets in that area of town, and it features busses that can run you right across the park in a few minutes. So, I transferred to the m89 there. Curiously enough, this route is one of the few in my part of town that features the new articulated busses, you know, the double-longs with the squishy accordian joint in the middle.

Alas, I hopped on the next East-bound bus, and grabbed a seat smack in the middle of the articulation... where I was treated to an abstractly bumpy ride, complete with all the rising, falling and twisting you'd expect from riding in the flexible joint of a fast-moving rush-hour NYC bus. It was a pretty nice ride, truth be told.

I bounded off at York Avenue and 89th street, and made the dash to 72nd and York on foot, in the freezing weather. And you know what? It was all worth it because I got to ride in a big accordian bus, yes, smack in the middle of the squishy part.

Go go crazy bus aftest!

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