Monday, and a rare, very boring ride in. So I shall tell you about Friday. I had no power Thursday night when I got home from a long, cold Opening Day at Nationals Park (good fun, bad team). It was a cold, miserable, self-pity inducing night. The power came back on around 4:00 a.m., which went mostly unnoticed, since I had pretty much just fallen asleep (why yes, I am also an insomniac). When the alarm went off at 5:30, I turned on the news ... and snuggled down for a few minutes. The first thing I heard was that they finally caught the Metro gropper, based on a victims detailed description of the man on Unsuck DC Metro (which, consequently, is impossible) and that there were delays on the Red Line at Judiciary square and on the Green Line at Waterfront.
I felt my frustration level rising ... clearly, this is not the best way to wake up. Trying to be positive, I reminded myself that I still had about an hour and a half before I needed to leave; surely they'd have that mess sorted out. I typically leave my house around 6:45 a.m., and when they were still announcing the two delays, I decided I'd stay put for an extra hour and go in late; I was still thawing out from the cold night without heat, afterall. I arrived at the Rockville Metro around 8:00 a.m. There were still delays, but at least it was not as crowded as the 7:00 a.m. train. I got a seat and cocooned myself with Linkin Park, Rise Against, and others to get me in a suitably stable mood for what I knew would be a stressful ride in.
At Tenleytown, a young man got on with his friends. He was about 5'7", with skinny jeans, spiky black hair, and a dark pea coat. His friends stood by the door chatting away, and he sat next to me, and put on his GINORMOUS headphones; they were literally bigger than his whole, tiny head. As a coping mechanism, I highly approved. As a look, perhaps not so much.
It started slow. A little movement here and there; I can't complain. Especially if I'm standing, I will sway to the music myself. Anything to avoid the reality of the the situation, which was that we stopped at each station for several minutes, never with any acknowledgement of the delay we all knew we were experiencing. That and the "Metro Minute" (definition: the 3-5 minutes one minute means on the train arrival boards...I've seen it go backwards), are my biggest pet peeves on Metro. Metro likes pretend its customers are mentally deficient with hazy grasps of the concept of time. Big Headphone Boy's (BHB) friends got off at Cleveland Park, and that's when the movement got even bigger.
The occassional head bob soon included animated mouthing of the words. Based on the animated drumming that soon accompanied this, I have to say BHB's earphones were pretty fantastic; I heard nothing of what must have been epic drumming. The head bobs then transformed into head whips from side to side. His eyes were closed, but clearly, he was rocking the Verizon Center to a sold out crowd. I didn't even pretend to not watch; I think it was expected. I felt I could have danced along to his air drums. I was actually disappointed when I had to get off, and leave him there to perform to a far less appreciative audience. He did Willow Smith proud, and the giggle made the Metro go down easier!
Nicely done! Will be back for more!
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