Tuesday, July 29, 2008

How many MTA workers does it take to open the subway doors?

On our trek back to NY on Sunday after our weekend in Baltimore, my boyfriend and I were waiting for a local train at the 71st St. stop in Queens, which, for those of you who don't know, is the first/last stop on the V, R and, when it's operating properly, G trains. On this particular evening, this station was also very hot and stuffy, which is why we were thankful when a local train arrived not too long after we did.

However, the doors of this subway did not open. Why? Because there were no conductors making an effort to open the doors. Why not? I don't know. I saw a bunch of them milling about upstairs laughing and eating and scratching and some on the other side of platform walking back and forth looking important, but none were coming to open the subway doors and save us from the extreme heat. Many people, including my usually much-calmer-than-me boyfriend were starting to get angry. On several occasions, other MTA employees walked down the stairs and I thought "Finally! We're saved!," only to have them walk by and not even glance at us or the closed subway doors. Now this was just cruel. Here we all were on Sunday evening standing in the hot, stuffy subway station in front of a closed air-conditioned subway, dreaming of our homes and we were being refused entry. It was torture. I imagined a group of disgruntled MTA workers watching the whole scene from an air-conditioned office in the station laughing at all of us who were at their mercy, because really, what the hell else were they doing that was making them late? They have ONE job. Arrive to the subway station on time, open the doors to let the waiting passengers on board, and then drive the subway back and forth for a few hours.

Song of the moment: "Dirty Laundry" by Don Henley. I know, WTF? I actually don't think I've ever heard this song before, but it's on the "Adult Top 40" station on my TV right now.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

you've never heard dirty laundry?
aka the soundtrack of the OJ simpson trial

i'm not crazy in remembering that those two things were connected right?

Subway Gal said...

I totally do not remember that, but you are correct! - http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=392 (about halfway down the page)