Public Transportation Saves The Day
As I have been moving towards a more minimalist, do more with less lifestyle I have been using and enjoying public transportation much more. I have a job to do yesterday and woke up to a icy snowstorm. No problem.
I decided to not be a hardcore Save the Planet minimalist and drive to the job due to the snow. Well, my car had another plan in mind as it would not start. I said to myself, what the hell I will just catch the train as I have been doing for some time now.
This snowstorm turned out to be the snowstorm from hell if they have snow in hell. This was the perfect mix of snow and temperature to be perfectly annoying. First of all, it was 6 inches of slushy snow.
The slushy snow is what made me lean towards driving anyway because walking in slush is never fun. But to make it even more annoying there was a constant light rain as the temperature outside rose above freezing. This caused rivers of flowing water mixed with ankle-deep slush.
The work I was to do yesterday was the type where a conference call was set up with a team of people in various places to coordinate the installation as a few parts in different locations needed to move together to complete the installation.
This added stress as I was now sure to be late and I would have people waiting for me. I was late to the train but lucked out as New Jersey Transit switched to a weekend schedule due to the storm.
They were expecting most of their passengers with half a brain to stay home for the day. Because of that the train I thought I missed would be arriving in 15 mins.
I got a voicemail from the project manager of the job I was heading to asking me to let her know if I would be late due to the storm but I had already informed the call center I would be about 15 mins late. I checked my messages again on the train and was told to join the conference call when I arrived at the site.
Now that New Jersey Transit got me to my destination I realized that this was a bad idea as I surveyed the area. All there was was snow, slush, ice, and rain for as far as I could see.
No one was out in this weather early in the morning and the roads and walkways were just starting to be worked on.
I walked over 1/2 a mile through slushy, icy walkways, and streets. I dodged cars, snow plows, and fallen branches to get to my destination.
I looked around and only saw two cars in the parking lot and got a sinking feeling. I fought to get there and I was only 25 mins late. I thought to myself, not bad under the circumstances.
I am a badass! LOL. As I walked to the front door the security guard informed me the place was closed. CLOSED? CLOSED? I asked.
He looked at me as if I disturbed him as he thought he was going to have an easy day as he listened to truc6ks plowing their massive parking lots and streets. He did not know some idiot with a stupid smile would be trying to get access to the building. LOL
