Damn the T

I know I said I hate the "T" - and, I know I sometimes change my mind and say, despite its annoyingness, its great because its better than driving.

Well last night, I was hating the T!

I started heading home - sometime before 12:30. I caught the last B train to Kenmore square where I had to switch to the D line. As I got off at Kenmore, I realized the D train was at the platform so I made a mad dash for it but unfortunately, it left before I got there. Bummer.

It was around 12:35 or so. I was a little nervous. I know the last trains usually leave at 12:30 (from Park St). But, I figured there HAD to be another train or else someone would close off the station (as they had already closed off the inbound side). So, I decided I'd wait.

A C train came. Then a B. Then another C. That only gave me more hope - since all those trains were coming, there had to be one more D! Another girl was waiting for the D and some guy waiting for the B so I waited too.

A part of me really wanted to catch a cab but I figured, "Murphy's Law" - as soon as I get up the stairs, I'll hear the train come through. And, I've waited this long - how much longer could it take? If the train comes every 10 minutes or so - even if its late - its bound to be there soon... right?

So we waited. and waited. A man (construction worker for MBTA) walked over to us and asked which line we were waiting for. We told him the D - he said they had had some train problems but the D would be here in a few minutes. Some other kids came to wait for the B. They gave up after awhile and decided to leave but when they got up to the top of the stairs - one of them swore he heard the train so they all ran downstairs. No train. THey went back up. A minute later they were back down. Again, they decided to wait. After a few minutes of waiting, they left again.

The girl and I were obviously frustrated at this point. She was headed to Riverside and had a $40 cab ride if the T didn't come... I, on the other hand, would probably only have a $10 - $15 cab ride - and, I DID for once have cash on me so it wouldn't have been a problem. But again, after waiting this long, I thought - why leave now? If i was going to get a cab, I should have done that 40 min ago.

A few more minutes. Okay, I can do a few more minutes.

Wait. Wait. Wait. At this point, the girl and I had lost our minds. We kept hearing a train coming - and still, no train came. I went upstairs to call the MBTA... no answer. Instead I called the MBTA police and they put me on hold.

Suddenly I heard the other girl call from downstairs - "THE TRAIN IS HERE!" - Are you sure? "Yes!" Is it the D? (there was still some guy waiting for the B) "YES! Most definitely!" - I ran downstairs just as the B train came rolling in. Gr. The guy got on and laughed at us...

I went back upstairs - still on hold with the police and finally, just as the police got back on the phone to say, "The D line should be coming in the station right now," I heard the train pull in.

It was 1:43. No joke.

We got on the train - absolutely excited - heck, I was about to kiss the T! (Okay, not really - we all know what a bad decision that would have been). We sat down and started joking around with everyone on the train (apparently, we'd been waiting at Kenmore since 12:30 and they'd actually been sitting on the train since about that time - if not earlier). One train had broken down and they had taken apart this train to create a B train and D train (with one car each). Gr!

Of course, our excitement was short lived as we realized, we weren't leaving the Kenmore station. For what felt like another hour, we sat there staring at the open doors wishing we could just be on our way home.

Finally, around 1:48 or so, the train pulled out. We were finally heading home.

I was thankful that I only had 4 stops to go. Some people had to go to the end of the line which meant they wouldn't be home for awhile. As soon as we got out of the Kenmore station- everyone who'd been on the train underground the whole time quickly picked up their phones to call people saying, "you won't believe this... we just left Kenmore"

Honestly, I was miserable. I should have been home by 12:50 or so - instead, I was home a little past 2. That's absurd. The sign in Kenmore says last outbound train leaves at 12:50. NOT 1:50 am!

what a night. (I should have gotten some reading done that whole time but i was exhausted and cold and frustrated all in one - not in a productive mood.)