Smokin'.Hot

Ok GO transit what's the excuse for this one?  Has no one told you it's stinkin' hot outside?  Why are half the cars on this train without air conditioning?  Seems like a sick joke to me.

I suppose you could say I'm one of the lucky ones though. I've managed to hop on a car with air. I can barely feel it though since I'm sat on the stairs, in a skirt no less. I hope the people in the seats facing me can't see my under-crackers. That would be embarrassing.

Still I'm not complaining about being in a jammed packed train, sitting on the stairs, barely feeling tiny waves of cool air and flashing my knickers to the other passengers (jury's still out on whether or not this is true).  I did have the option of joining a car with zero air, cool or circulation but I would have had a seat (since no one wants to sit like that for an hour).

This is how my story goes.  As I was running along the platform, I hopped into the first car I came to.  Immediately I was slapped in the face by the heat. That was followed by another slap, this time from the B.O. Not cute. With people behind me I made a break for the next car walking through the train. Bam!  Just as bad. I ducked, I dived and I managed to get back to the platform. Running some more, in this lovely humidity I came to the car I'm now in.  Oh the lengths one will go to for a little relief from the heat.

I guess the silver lining for today's commuting adventures is the promotions girls that came around this morning. GO transit has really upped their game when it comes to promoting their extra trains for Caribana next weekend. On our sleepy morning train, the sound of 2 perky young ladies dressed in a bedazzled bra and panty set really wakes you up. Watching the men's faces was comical. Jaws dropped and eyes popped.  As for the women, they were in more of a staring blankly and judging kind of mood. Even saw one lady roll her eyes.  I wonder what tomorrow's promoting will have in store. I say, bring on the free stuff and leave the bling bling bikinis at home.

GO.to.Sleep

People watching on the train is the most popular form of entertainment on the daily commute.  You don't need fancy gadgets to do it nor does it cost any money.  Win-win I'd say.

Since today is Monday people watching consisted of very tired and very much people.  Since watching sleeping people is both creepy and boring so I decided to get a little extra shut eye myself.  Before I gave my eyes a rest though, I did noticed some things that you can always expect in a train full of tired and/or sleeping commuters.

We have the people that sleep with the sunglasses on, sat straight up trying to fool the other passengers into thinking they're still awake.  There are some people that rely so desperately on that extra 40 mins of sleep that they actually bring a travel pillow.  Then there's the head bobbers.  These are the ones I'm afraid of most.  It weirds me out a little when they're sleeping heads bob up and down too close to my personal bubble.  One of these days I just know someone is going to decide to take a nap on my shoulder.  These types of sleepers are ones that you will find, day in, day out on any GO train line.

As a special treat, you may encounter a snorer.  They're hard to ignore and they make other passengers either giggle to each other or scowl.  Either reaction the situation is always awkward.  What do you do?  Do you nudge them so they shut up or do you just let them snore their little hearts out?  If I'm sat beside one of these noise makers, I usually just let them sleep.  If its really loud and intolerable, I will give them a nudge (of course pretending that I did it by mistake).

And my personal fave.  One that I, myself have done from time to time, I like to call the "fall awake".  Maybe that's a bad name for it but to me it makes sense entirely.  Has there ever been a time where you're falling into a deep sleep then all of a sudden this feeling that you are actually falling comes over you?  It happens to me a lot and it amuses my husband to no end.  First you close your eyes for a little rest of or a nice long slumber.  Then it hits you.  The sensation that you're falling, followed by a jolt and a gasp.  I've done this a couple of times on the train and most recently in the company of one of my commuter buddies.  I jumped so much it prompted her to ask if I was OK.  That one sure would have been embarrassing if I didn't have a friend there to laugh about it with.  Also, one of the reasons that I don't like to fall asleep on the train.  Now, of course I was expecting others to notice and have a little chuckle amongst themselves.  I admit I do the same thing when I see others practically jump out of their skin because they're "falling" asleep.

I'm curious to know.  What is/would your GO transit sleep/nap be like?  Vote to the right!

A.Bad.Day.Gets.Worse

 There you a train delays. I haven't seen you in a while. Or maybe I see you so often that I don't notice until an extra special delay like today.

Actually come to think of it this isn't that bad at all.  I was working late today (a rotten day that started a little early and ended a little late) so I was never going to make my usual train home.  This was a good move though I didn't think so at the time. You see my usual train was delayed by over 20 mins getting into the station, and that is why I feel like a sardine right now.

I'm on the train that is scheduled to leave 20 mins behind the usual and today this train has collected a few, actually, quite a few more anxious commuters.  It's every man for themselves today and I was one of the lucky ones to get a seat. I may be squished with a few hands attached to my head rest, and arms uncomfortably close to my face, but at least I'm not standing.

My intention was to try to meet up with one of my train buddies for some conversation / gossip on the ride home. Sadly we have resorted to texting each (from separate cars) about our plans for the evening and talk of how crowded the train is. Still, at least I'm not standing.

All I can really hope for right now is that someone doesn't cut the cheese. Imagine if you will.  You're on an uber full train. The air is on but so is the body heat. And then the unthinkable happens; someone let's one rip. Talk about nasty. Anyway, I'm just hoping that doesn't happen right now.

The only thing left for me to he worried about is getting out of the parking lot.  I have to do so without flipping anyone the bird or getting into an accident. This could proove difficult with all the extra folks. Not to mention their knickers are all ready in a twist for having to board a later train or stand up for an hour. This should be interesting.

Parking.Lot.Wars

Exiting the parking lot is one of my favorites things about my daily commute.  Not!  And yes, I know, the 90's called and they want their saying back.  Anyway, back to my rant.  Is it just me or do people forget about parking lot etiquette all too often.

Today was one of the days that I just wanted to lay on my horn and give a couple commuters the finger.  Alas, I didn't.  It is summer after all, and summer should not be wasted on being aggravated by the selfish behaviour of others.  Instead, I have decided to blog about it.

So I'm in my car, windows down and heading out of the parking lot.  Time to go and my my hunky man for a walk in the park.  I pull up to the road that leads out of the parking lot.  There is already a vehicle on the other side of the road waiting for their turn to enter the line.  They pull out in front of another car following GO parking lot protocol and letting them in line.  That's where the niceties end.

I'm next to pull out into line.  Just have to wait for the next passing vehicle to let me in.  A car pulls up in line.  I'm gonna call him Mr. Hot Shot in an Audi.  I start to nudge forward in between him and the car ahead.  Does he allow me to go?  Oh heck no!  In fact he nearly takes my bumper off as his way of letting me know he's a hot shot in an Audi.  Dink.  I know he knew that was breaking the code because he stared straight ahead, pretending he didn't see me there at all.

Getting a little frustrated, I pull forward just a wee bit more.  My first try failed but I'm not going to fail this time.  As I'm edging forward to get into the line outta there, the car in front belonging to Mr. Hot Shot, the car behind, not a car at all.  Its a truck and a big one at that.  I'm a quarter way into the line now and I'm ready to make the final move when the Audi moves.  Do I get that opportunity?  Oh heck no!  Mr.  Big Man in his Big Truck, does a cute little, go around the girl in the Pontiac, move.  Are you serious?  Dink x 2.

The person waiting across the road is watching all this going on and is smiling and shaking his head.  I take that as validation that I'm not the bad driver.  These guys are just suffering from some self important, little man syndrome.  As Mr. Big Man in is Big Truck moves up closer to his newest friend Mr. Hot Shot in an Audi, I finally make a break for it and get into line.  Thank you Man in a Jeep for letting me in!

Lesson learned today; let people into the exit line.  We all have something more important to do than play silly games in the parking lot of the GO station.  And the second lesson I learned?  I will not be letting in Mr. Hot Shot or Mr. Big Truck into the line anytime soon.  See how they like. ha.  And yes, I know I'm being immature. :-P

Salad.Anyone?

Lately, there has been a bit of a low in terms of "out of the ordinary" things I see on the train.  I had forgotten how lame it can get during summer vacations.  Don't people know I have a blog to write?  Well in lieu of recent news, today I'm going to pull one from the old memory bank and hopefully you will enjoy it. 

Allow me to set the scene.  It's sometime in the summer of 2010. I remember it was summer because the train was hot that day not having the air on while it sat idle at the station.  I would also like to note that hot train = grumpy passengers.

Anyway, I hop on the train for my evening commute and decide that I'm going to switch things up.  I sit in a different car than usual, and decide I'm going to sit in the middle section, rather then the top.  Oh the choices. hehe.  I'm a creature of habit so it's a big deal when I change up my routine. Never the less, I did it. 

So there I am sat in the new car, in the middle section getting myself sorted while other passengers board the train.  The train departs and I begin to look around to see what the kinds of people have boarded this car.  I start to notice a smell.  Something sour was in the air.  I look around and I'm seeing that the other passengers can smell it too.  Then, there it is, plain as day.  The culprit?  An imitation crab pasta salad sat on someone's knee. I look up and see that it's a middle aged woman who is debating whether or not she should eat said pasta salad.  After a little humming and awing, on her part, she decided to eat the salad. Dun, dun, dun.

 

Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but it is crab salad and it is summer time. Ok so it smells bad but that's not the yuckiest part of this whole situation. What's really bad about this scenario is that she's eating her imitation crab pasta salad with her fingers!  Yep she's shovelling it in by her finger tips and licking them after each and every bite. Yuck, yuck, yuck!  I'm no germ-a-phobe but I mean c'mon. You're riding public transit and who knows what you touched last or the last time you washed your hands.  All I can think is I'm glad I'm not the person sat beside her.  That was one lady that must have been seriously hungry! 

In the end, lesson learned.  I avoided that train car for the rest of the summer. I was afraid my stomach wouldn't be able to handle a repeat performance.  And like me other passengers are creatures of habit.  I just hope that eating crab and pasta salad is one habit that woman was able to break.