Friday Night Report

Train life is slowly returning to normal. I never thought I would actually look forward to normal train life but after nearly 6 weeks of rock-bottom, normal is looking pretty pretty good. Morning inbound trains slide in roughly on time (Metro-North considers any arrival within 5 minutes 59 seconds of the schedule to be on time), and the predictability of the return trip has regained solid footing. The tracks are generally announced in advance and most of the trains are in place 20 to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure, which makes for a leisurely boarding process. There are fewer trains, and they generally have a smaller number of cars, but the ridership has adjusted and the overcrowding has been reduced to a dull roar.

Tonight I am happily ensconced in my single seat. My only annoyance is the Friday Night Beer Club, which has gathered in the vestibule directly behind me. They were screaming at each other, slapping each other on the back, and speculating about what the babe in the restroom was actually doing even before we pulled out of Grand Central. Then they popped open their first round of tallboys. It could get really nasty in here by East Norwalk. Just now a large woman in a mustard yellow sweatshirt decided to stand next to my seat while she whines to an unseen partner on her cell phone. She has a serious case of the dribbly sniffles so I hope this is only a temporary stop on her personal train journey. There is always hope.

The train characters are back after weeks of being stifled from strutting their stuff due to aisle overcrowding. I have now seen a middle-aged guy wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with "I am Proud to be a Cucky Boy" (look it up) parading up and down the aisle 3 times, and we are only at Mount Vernon! The curious 7-year old boy asking 10 questions a minute about train travel is sitting two rows in front of me. His Dad is getting almost all of the answers wrong, and I am lightly considering an Intervention. Naaaahhh. There is no upside to getting involved.

That is my Friday night report. I think I am going to shut my eyes for thirty minutes and enjoy train normalcy. Have a great weekend, and I will see you on the rails next week.