An annoying thing happened on my way to Boston

One of my many pet peeves I have when I’m commuting concerns the people that sit with me. I’m early enough on the line that I usually have an inside seat, which I prefer. And most of the time, the person sitting next to me does not bother me. They can be sleeping, reading a book, or just staring off into space; I don’t care. I do care when they are talking on their phone (especially in the morning) or smell like cigarettes, or crowd my space. Recently, I realized there is something else that bothers me: passengers who do not get up when it’s time to get off the train.

When the train pulls into North Station, some people line up so they can get off first. I am not one of these people. I don’t see the point. Saving one to two minutes will not make it or break it for me in terms of getting to work on time.

Anyway, one day a woman sat down next to me after she got onto the train. Well…let me rephrase. When she arrived at my seat, she divided her royal highness' match luggage between the overhead compartment, the aisle and the floor in front of her seat. She folded her coat and placed it on the luggage, unfolded her newspaper, brewed some coffee, had a quick bath and called for room service. OK, not really, but you get the idea. This was a woman with a full agenda and she had yet to take her seat. But, I didn’t think too much of it. We had a half hour to go until Boston.

As we pulled into North Station, she continued reading her paper (the gossip section, I noticed). I already put my book away and was basically ready to stand up when it was time for my seat to file out. (Perhaps she never learned this procedure in grade school?) The train stopped and she was still reading about the Kardashians or Lindsay Lohan’s latest arrest. I didn’t care; it was time for her to start packing up.  If all she had to do was stand up and leave, I wouldn’t even be writing about this, but, she had a lot of stuff to take care of before she got off the train and she wasn’t even moving!  The people sitting in front of me started getting off the train and she just kept on reading! I think at this point I must have cleared my throat or made some kind of movement to indicate that I’d like to get off the train…or that I was about to go for her throat.  I suppose I could have just said excuse me…or GET UP YOU INCONSIDERATE bitch HUMAN BEING!!! She looked at me, sighed, stood up, and moved into the seat in front of me and continued reading. I was putting her out, basically. So, soooooorry to interrupt!!  

It may seem like a little thing.  Something that only delayed me for 30 seconds of my pretty laid-back life.  But, and let this be a warning to you, this is what five years on the MBTA will do to a person. I wasn’t always like this; I used to be a normal, patient-to-a-reasonable-degree person, but now simple situations like this really send me off the deep end! There are many people that stay on the train after it stops (what do I care if someone likes to enjoy their paper in the ambiance of a human cattle car?), but this woman was stealing precious moments of my life!!!  At least let the person on the inside of the seat out so they can get to work or wherever they are going. It’s the same thing as waiting for people to get off the T before you get on or vice versa. It’s just common courtesy with a sprinkle of social awareness.

About one to two weeks after this happened, I was on the train, heading to work, enjoying my book, when I looked up and saw her. Luggage and all. With a look of recognition in her eyes, she sat down next to me.  Some people just suck.

A Disney Vacation

My husband I returned recently from a week long vacation in Florida. We started the trip in Fort Myers (business for him and Red Sox for me!) and then headed to Orlando for the rest of the trip. I must say, Disney at age 27 is not the same as Disney at age 21. Who would have thought that 6 years would make so much of a difference? I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy myself; I did. I love Disney World. Yes, it’s definitely geared for children, but I still think it’s a lot of fun – the rides, characters, etc. But I cannot express how tired I was after a day of walking through the park and standing in lines.

When I was younger, I remember spending all day and night in the parks. My most recent trip before this one was when I was 21. My family and I would start the day in one park, hop on the monorail to another park, and stay until it closed. I never stopped to rest. Waiting in lines, in the hot sun – none of this fazed me. Looking back, I don’t know how my parents kept up!

During this recent vacation, we rested – as much as we could. I think it’s the only thing that prevented us from coming home at 7pm and collapsing into our bed for the night! While we were only there for 3 days (which I now think is the maximum days one should go), we did not spend as much time at the parks as I used to. And surprisingly I was okay with it. After getting home from the Animal Kingdom after the first day, my feet were throbbing! I was hot from the sun and wanted to take a shower. I didn’t feel like going to another park that day. It was only 3pm.

We had dinner one night in Downtown Disney. The meal was excellent, at this Italian restaurant called Portabellos. During dinner we talked about how we wanted to go dancing after this. We’re on vacation after all! Halfway through the meal, my husband remarked on how little time we’ve had for reading during this vacation. And then I said what we were both thinking: How about we just go back to the hotel and read and relax? Yes, please.

We decided the next time we come back will be with our future children and when they are old enough to really appreciate the experience.  And if we’re smart, we’ll rope our parents into it.  Maybe they will have hit their second wind by then!

Where is the snow?

This has been a very disappointing winter for me. I live in New England and expect a winter full of snow storms, blizzards, snow squalls, etc. I love snow. And yet, it has barely snowed all winter! We had a snow storm on Halloween and then nothing but flurries since. I’m not happy about it.

Most people will disagree with me and say it’s been the best winter, but I am sorely disappointed. Nothing is cozier than being stuck inside during a big snowstorm. School and work are cancelled; cars are not allowed on the roads; something delicious is cooking in the crockpot. Who wouldn’t love this?!  

The weathermen have continued to predict snow storms, but seeing how they are only right a small percentage of the time, I shouldn’t be surprised when snow doesn’t fall from the sky. They predict snow for tomorrow and Thursday, but I’m hesitant to believe them. When I was younger, I used to make snowflakes out of paper and hang them in the window. It would snow and snow all winter long…I just hung up a paper snowflake in my cubicle…we’ll see if it works.

Post, the First

Everyone keeps telling me that my first blog post should set the tone of my blog…okay. Tone is set. And I should also define my writing style. (Haven’t I already done that?) And it should discuss what I plan to write about and the type of person I am. Well…I am a wife, daughter, sister, friend, commuter, runner, writer, animal lover, Red Sox fan, cooking enthusiast, grammar nerd…the list goes on. So my posts may have something to do with one, some, or all of those things.

Then, just to make sure I had the right idea…I googled “first blog post” and was told that it will basically suck. So I could end my post here and accomplish all of the above.