Sub-standard Subway Riding

Last night was my latest night since I started my current job. It started off innocently enough after work when I had an hour and a quarter to kill. Az I went over to Park Avenue Liquor and bought a nice bottle for my friend's aufruf, and then sat in Bryant Park reading Harry Potter for another half an hour. Then I walked over to Mendy's 34th street for a friend's birthday. Once that ended, at around 8:15, another friend, who incidentally had been sitting in Bryant Park reading Harry Potter, called me up to see if I wanted to go see the Harry Potter movie. Az we went, and the movie let out at around midnight. Once we were out, we headed to the A-train to get back up to the Heights. Luckily, one came pretty quickly, an we were well on our way to having a not-so-late night. But then, disaster struck. At 168th street, the PA system announced that this was the last stop, az we reluctantly got off and walked over to the 1-train. At this point we were pretty tired, and we (I) didn't notice that we were standing on the downtown track, az we watched two uptown trains go by and finally got on a downtown train. By the time we reached 157th street we realized our error. After waiting another 20 minutes our train finally came, and I ended up getting back to my apartment at about 1:30. I can't remember the last time I wore a suit and tie (and socks) for 17 hours straight; believe me, it's not so pleasant. Good thing my roommate wasn't awake and doesn't read my blog or have facebook, because otherwise he would know that I accidentally left my dirty, smelly socks on his desk chair. Okay...TMI...anyway...

I'm ashamed to say that this is not the first time I took the wrong train. Allow me to be self-effacing for a few short paragraphs, so that you can all laugh at me the next time you see me. I deserve it for forcing y'all to read my sports ramblings for the last coupla weeks. Enjoy. In reverse chronological order:

A few weeks ago, I was on the way back from work, and as usual, I took the B-train from 47-50th streets two stops to 59th street Columbus Circle. I walked across the platform intending to get on the A-train, but I completely and utterly forgot that the D-train runs on the same track. Az there I am, riding the D-train, rereading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on a hot, crowded train full of, erm, non-mosaic faithful (usually the second car on the A-train is full of tribe members), when we arrive at 167th street in the Bronx. I mean it wasn't a big deal; I just turned around, but it really was deathly hot. I got back on the Manhattan-bound D-train and got off at 145th street and waited for the A-train. the annoying part was that the A-train didn't come for like 15 minutes, and I was sweating like a motherf**ker in my suit. And then, to top it all off, the train that came wasn't air-conditioned. Whatever, I don't want to talk about it anymore. That was really the only time I was on the wrong train all by myself. It's much easier to cope with these situations when you're with people, unless they're constantly busting your chops about being the dude who actually grew up in Manhattan and managed to get everyone lost. Whatever, I don't want to talk about it anymore.

I guess about a year and a half ago I met a friend for dinner down at Noah's Ark on the Lower East Side. The food was really not good; the country-fried steak was the driest piece of meat I ever had. Anyway, he had to go back to Riverdale, and I was going back to my parents' apartment on the Upper East Side, az I decided to ride the J or M train with him for a coupla stops and then transfer to the 6-train. Anyway, somehow we ended up on the wrong track and took the train one stop into Brooklyn. It was quite embarrassing, especially considering my aforementioned Manhattan roots, his major in Civil Engineering, and the fact that he works in Brooklyn.

Now these next two are the worst ones. My junior year of college (I believe), I went with some friends on a Saturday night to J2 for one of their birthdays. The birthday girl also invited some of her friends from nearby Stern College, az after we were through we walked them back to their dormitories because it was late. Now, there's no really good way to get from 37th street and 3rd avenue to 116th street and Broadway, az I was forced to improvise. We walked over to Grand Central Terminal and took the 7-train towards Times Square intending to transfer to the 1-train. However, for some reason, we got on the Queens-bound 7-train. We realized our error when we noticed that the train hadn't yet reached its first stop, which was supposed to be 5th avenue, a very quick stop. Az we reached the first stop in Queens and got off. We asked the station attendant what to do, and he said we should wait for the next train, and at the next stop we should transfer in the reverse direction. Of course, it would have been convenient if we had stayed on the train to begin with, because now we had to wait 15 minutes for another train, and then wait another 20 for the train in the reverse direction. Anyway, after all that insanity, we all got back to Columbia at like 4:30 am. At least that trip was fun.

My freshman year of college, a few weeks after the attacks of 9/11, I went with several friends to J2 (again). Now because of the attacks, all of the subways were screwed up, az on the way back to Columbia we took the 2 express train, which happened to be running on the local track. We reached 96th street still on the local track, az I suggested we just stay on the train until 116th street. Obviously, I was horribly wrong, and the next stop was 110th street and Lenox avenue. It would have been extremely bright if we had just gotten on the reverse train back to 96th street, but I insisted we just walk. Az I led everyone to 114th street so that we could turn westwards and go straight to Carman Hall on Broadway. But I forgot about Morningside Park! Few times in my life have I ever felt as uncomfortable as I did walking those few blocks towards the park. We arranged ourselves so that the men walked on the outside and the women (some of whom were in tears) walked on the inside. Seriously, after we arrived back safely, my roommate took it upon himself to do something special during his prayers.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading about my being an idiot. See, even we bloggers are fallible.