Let me paint you a picture of the Rt. 59 Train Station in Naperville. There are two parking lots which feed into the train, both of which hold approximately 3-5,000 cars. Both parking lots are full by 7:15 so that means that the train I take is depenedent upon the parking situation. I unfortunately have to park on the "crappy" side of the station so our parking payment machines are much worse than the other side's. This means that I have to use magic to get it to take my two dollars. Since we just got new machines (which are by far worse than the old ones) there is a huge learning curve for everyone so the act of paying for parking usually take up to 10 minutes. This pretty much means I miss the train at least once a week. Yes, all to get a parking spot which is 500 yards away from the train. I finally figured out the trick this morning...you have to wait for the small light on the dollar intake mechanism to turn green, then insert your dollars. This of course is not displayed ANYWHERE on the machine. Go figure. So once parking is resolved, I head to wait in line on the station which is large enough for like 12 cars. There are approximately 700-900 people getting on at my stop so that means about 60 people are getting on at each car. And it is not a pleasant experience because people are pushing and shoving. I actually got tripped one day. Gotta get a seat or you are standing for 40 minutes! it is pretty amazing to see people go back to their primal instincts every morning. And if you are handicapped, forget it...it's survival of the fittest for the Rt. 59 train station. So, once you are settled, hopefully in a seat, all you have left to hassle with is the conductor coming through yelling at you if you dont have your tickets ready. Oh yeah, and the 1,500 people (yes we stop at another large train station) all trying to exit the train at the same time which inevitably makes you feel like a herd of cows - MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
And this is just one leg of the commute!
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Public transportation definitely brings out the carnal side of people. On my way to work this morning, someone on my train car fainted. And the best part? When the train pulled into the station, people would not wait in their seats for 2 minutes to let the paramedics in, even with the conductor yelling at them to stay put. As always, it was a push and shove contest to see who could get off the train the first. Can't blame the poor lady for passing out in a mess like that.
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