Metro Tested Everyone's Deodorant Today

Like everyone else who trudged into work today, I had my fair share of delays thanks to the rain and Metro's under-the-water-table stations. I arrived in Rosslyn on time, but had to let one car pass because it was crowded. I am not going to be THAT guy who smooshes everyone else after they have all established their personal space. I found room on the next train only to wait for 15 minutes until it actually moved out of the station. Of course, 10 minutes into our wait, THAT guy pushed his way on, to which I said, "really?" After striking up some close-talker conversation with my new friends, the train was on its way. I decided to get off a station earlier than normal and walk to work. Fortunately, everyone on my train smelled like they showered and wore deodorant. With so many arms reaching over total strangers, it was a great perspiration test.

Believe it or not, things don't work well when it's a rare weather event.

Am I angry with metro? Nope. Disappointed? Nope. As mentioned in one of the Post's online chats, this was rainfall of a biblical level. The storm stayed on top of the area and just kept pounding us with water. You have to expect delays with your morning commute. Maybe it's a DC mindset, but it's shortsighted to think everything will be the same when something extraordinary takes place. That's why it was an extraordinary event. If there's an earthquake, we'd still hear people complain they weren't allowed over the key bridge, even when it has a crack. It happens. It happens to everyone. Of course, if the complainers had their way, they would have had Metro not reverse trains out of Metro Center and have them driven through a pool of water - nevermind Metro runs on electricity.

DC complainers don't have any sympathy for travel delays when this happens.

Perhaps it's the eternally stubborn optimist in me, but if Metro is extremely reliable for my (albeit short) ride every workday about 98% of the time, I can deal with the 2% of the time when it would have been faster for me to walk. Maybe we would have all been better off with DCites running to the stores to stockup on bread, water, and canned goods just as they do with a 2" snowfall after listening to the local news hype. At least that way, less people would have been able to complain about their rough commute.

I remember a time when I drove this tunnel.